


CoSL 26: Dream in Color

by Dracophile



Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [26]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Dream Sharing, Heart Break, Hospitals, Illness, Jack the Ripper - Freeform, Murder, Other, Past Abuse, Unrequited Love, attempts at redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24688780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracophile/pseuds/Dracophile
Summary: Casebook of Sloane Larson Part 26!After Dierdre's attempt to control Sloane, she's in the hospital under a powerful spell. In her dreams, Sloane is in a perfect world and may not want to wake up. The only way to wake her up before it kills her is to go into her dreams to get her to wake up. But when Henrietta is attacked, their help comes from an unexpected source...(goes over parts of You Don't Know Jack and Headache as well)
Relationships: Nick Burkhardt/Original Female Character(s), Rosalee Calvert/Monroe
Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1061588
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	CoSL 26: Dream in Color

_**“If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, that you have but slumber’d here, while these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream.”** _

\-------------------------

**Dream in Color**

\------------------------

Sloane groaned softly, opening her eyes slowly. She expected to see stars and trees above her—instead, she saw her bedroom ceiling. Blinking, she sat up with a start. _What happened? Where am I?_ She looked around, confirming it was her room. But she didn’t remember getting there. Frowning, she put a hand over her chest. No pain…Wait, why was she expecting pain?

She heard something out in the kitchen and tensed before pushing the covers aside. She was in a T-shirt and shorts, her usual sleeping attire. Nothing seemed out of place as she padded out and down the hall. Turning the corner past the dining room, she frowned when she saw a man in her kitchen. He was cooking something on the stove, humming and moving, dancing in a shirt and pair of pajama bottoms. And she recognized him in a moment. “Nick?”

He turned and smiled. “Hey there! You didn’t need to get up, I was going to bring you breakfast in bed.”

Sloane blinked in confusion “You…were?”

“Yeah, birthday girl!”

“Birthday…it’s my birthday?” she asked.

“No, it’s tomorrow but it’s your birthday eve…” he was joking but then paused and set the pan down—making pancakes it seemed but she strangely couldn’t smell them—and walked over to her worriedly. “Hey, you okay?”

“I…don’t know, something seems off…” she said, rubbing her temple. She couldn’t remember how she got home. She couldn’t remember a lot it felt. The fact that Nick was here, in his pajamas, felt strange too.

He reached up gently and cupped her face, looking at her worriedly. “Did you have a bad dream again?”

“Bad dream…?”

“You don’t have to hide it from me. I get them too, remember? It’s the job. It feels real, I know, but it’s okay.”

His voice was soothing, deep, sweet. It made her relax slowly. “Right…it’s okay…I’m okay…”

He smiled and leaned in and Sloane’s eyes widened when his lips touched hers. She felt her face heat up in surprise and shock and confusion. Nick pulled back and then smiled in confusion. “What’s that look for?”

“…Kiss…you kissed me…” she said dumbly.

Nick laughed a little. “That must’ve been a bad dream if you think I wouldn’t kiss my girlfriend.”

“I…” Sloane felt a sudden wave go over her mind and she blinked as it cleared. She couldn’t remember suddenly why that didn’t sound right. It sounded so right. Why was she going to argue? “I…right, sorry,” she smiled. “I am really out of it.

Nick smiled and pulled her close, kissing her cheek. “Hey, no trouble.” She sighed and held him back, smiling at the warmth. “I love you.”

She held on tighter, burying her head in his shoulder. “I love you too…”

He smiled and pulled back to kiss her again. Sloane felt lighter, happier, like she was right where she belonged.

\--------------------

“29-year-old female, stab wound to the chest!” one ER nurse shouted as they pushed the gurney through the hospital. They moved her from the gurney onto the examination table. Cardiac monitors, blood pressure-cuff and oxygen saturation probes were attached to her quickly and efficiently. “Vital signs: Heart rate- 90/min, Blood Pressure- 130/70, Respiratory rate 25, Temperature- 97 F.”

“No active external bleeding,” another nurse said, cutting her shirt away to examine the wound. The knife was being held in place with a foam block the EMTs had put in place to keep it from shifting and causing more damage in transport.

“Is that a switch blade?” an intern asked in shock.

“Focus!” the doctor ordered. “Further statuses?”

“Clear on right, single stab wound to the left chest in the mid-axillary line in the 4th intercostal space, no crepitus, no bleeding.”

“Order an X-Ray over so we can see where the knife is. Was she conscious when she was picked up?”

“No, she was unconscious, unresponsive…”

Nick and the others were forced to stay in waiting room of the ER while they worked on Sloane. He was fidgeting, hands fisted together under his nose as his mind raced over the events of that night. Dierdre poisoning Sloane with the same “Obedience” drug he’d been, trying to make her kill them, fighting her for his life…watching her stab herself to stop from killing him.

“Nick?” He looked up at Hank who sat down with him. “…I know it’s dumb asking how you are but…”

“…She did that to save me. She…could die. Because I didn’t…” he said quietly, shaking a little.

“What? You know Dierdre wanted her to kill you, you had to fight back.”

“But I could’ve…I don’t know, knocked her out! Tied her up! Something! Instead she had to do that to herself…Why would she do that for me?”

“You know we’re all important to her, Nick,” Rosalee said softly, close to tears. “She was trying hard to fight it…It’s not your fault. It’s mine for not making the cure fast enough.”

“If we’re playing the blame game, Hank and I didn’t drive you to the woods fast enough,” Wu said.

“It’s none of our faults!” Monroe snapped, making them look at him. “None of ours. It’s Diedre’s. Dierdre did this to her, Dierdre put her in this situation. It’s not our fault.”

The looked at one another then smiled slightly. “Well, he has a point,” Hank said.

“We’ll hunt her down somehow…” Nick said darkly.

“Yeah, she has your trailer,” Monroe said.

“She has the trailer?” Hank asked, shocked.

“She stole it,” Nick said. “When I get ahold of that woman…”

“Later. When we know Sloane is okay. She’ll be going into surgery soon…” Rosalee said. She then bared her teeth. “And then when we find her, I’m ripping that bitch’s throat out!”

\-----------------------

Prince Kenneth was lounging in the penthouse living room, watching television. He didn’t have the look of enjoyment on his face as he watched housewives argue with one another. “Honestly…this passes for entertainment in this country?”

“People will watch anything when their bored,” Rispoli said.

“Obviously,” he murmured, taking a sip of his scotch. There was a knock at the door, and he glanced at his bodyguard who nodded and rose to answer it. A man stood there in a police uniform.

“Did you get some information?”

“A bit. He wanted daily updates, right?” Rispoli nodded patiently, stepping back to let him in. The man took off the hat with a sigh and bowed his head. “Your Highness.”

“Mr. Lighton,” he smiled, setting his drink down and muting the television. “Were you able to talk to Detective Burkhardt?”

“Unfortunately, no. Something happened last night it seems, he wasn’t at the station today.”

Kenneth frowned deeply. “I put you there to for a very specific reason…”

He quickly held up his hands. “I still gathered information, sir! Some very interesting information.”

“I’ll decide if it’s interesting. What do you have?”

Lighton reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. “There’s a second Grimm detective.”

Kenneth quirked his brow. “…I’m curious, I’ll admit.”

He smiled and pulled up the information he’d snuck in and photographed, handing it to him. “It’s a woman, Sloane Larson. She’s part of a three-person team with Mr. Burkhardt and his original partner, Hank Griffin. He’s Kehrseite. I looked through their case files and it’s obvious they deal primarily with wesen related cases.”

“But how do you know she’s a Grimm?”

“That took a little more digging on my partners’ parts. I had the whole team pause to research her. Though anyone doing simple background checks won’t see anything too strange, they dug deep and found all of her previous police records are both very basic, and very fake. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure she stayed as a detective here in Portland.”

“Sean, more than likely,” Kenneth was nodding. “And he wouldn’t do that unless she had some value.”

“The background they did find is a tragic one,” Lighton said, holding out a file. “She goes by her real name here, which is also surprising. After weeding out a few, we found Sloane Larson lived with her Grandmother in a small town in California. Age nine, said grandmother dies in a horrific home invasion. It looked to investigators, and I quote, “like she was mauled by a pack of animals.” Sloane herself talked about monsters killing her grandmother. She was put in an institution, where she stayed for three months before someone apparently broke her out and she disappeared for nearly 20 years, till two years ago.”

Kenneth was nodding. “All that does point to her likely being a Grimm…But I’m not sure how to use this.”

“Well, she and Mr. Burkhardt seem…close.”

He quirked a brow again. “Oh?”

He reached down and flipped a few pages to an article cut out about the Golden Grove dance competition. “My first inkling. They were posing as a dance couple to investigate some mysterious deaths. Now, I got my start in investigating a lot of infidelity cases.” He tapped a picture that was a snapshot of her and Nick dancing together, smiling. “This smile of hers isn’t the kind I saw given to a good chum.”

“You think they’re having an affair?” he asked, a bit shocked.

“Eh…to be honest, not a lot I’ve found yet points there. By all accounts, Burkhardt is deeply in love with a Juliette Silverton. And that Larson is a good friend of both of them. It might be one sided. I mean I’ve been there a day so who knows what else I’ll find.”

“No, no…this is good,” Kenneth smiled, looking at the file again.

“It is?”

“Yes. I see why you charge such a large fee when you get results like this so quickly.”

Lighton smiled. “I got a good team. You want me to keep going?”

“For now, yes. More information is always better. But I think I can move forward with this.” He smiled. “I needed something to put a real wedge between Juliette and her friends. This could be just the thing…where’s Larson now?”

“That’s the thing—The reason Burkhardt and the others weren’t there today is that Larson was attacked last night. Got stabbed through the chest. Details are fuzzy, but she’ll live I’ve heard. That’s where Burkhardt is right now.”

“Hmmm…well, that’ll leave us a little time to prepare. Go on and rest for tonight.”

“Yes sir.” He took his phone back and Rispoli showed him out.

When he returned, he looked unsure. “You really think this will be what you need to tip Juliette to our side, sir?”

“I do. As tough as she’s trying to act, there’s a vulnerability there when it comes to Mr. Burkhardt. If she thinks he’s ready to move on from her so soon, maybe was already willing…well, that puts things in a new perspective, doesn’t it? One where maybe a little revenge seems justified.”

\---------------------

Renard was dealing with a lot. He was waking up in odd places—pools, puddles of water, fountains…disheveled, confused, often bloody and with his supposedly healed wounds aching. Large gaps of time would be missing from his memories as well. Then the call about Sloane came as he was finishing changing his clothes. He headed to the hospital quickly.

“Captain,” Wu sighed. The group was still in the waiting room, looking haggard after spending the night there.

“I’m not here as your boss. Not completely at least. How is she?” he asked.

“She just got out of surgery a little while ago,” Rosalee said. “She had good aim. The knife slipped between her ribs and missed her heart. She had bleeding, but she’s going to be okay.”

“…Then why do you look worried?” he asked, eyeing them all.

Rosalee and Nick glanced at one another then back to him. “She…hasn’t woken up,” Nick said.

“Well, she might still be sedated from surgery?”

“No, she…she hasn’t woken up since she was brought here. Before, after we cured her, she just passed out and she didn’t make a sound or move since. Even being worked on by the EMTs. No sign of pain or anything. But nothing would’ve knocked her out at the time, and she’s stayed conscious through pain before…She walked on a broken leg and talked about triaging herself…”

“So, the fact she passed out worries you,” Renard surmised.

“Not just us. The doctors said even though her brain showed activity, she wasn’t showing any physical reactions,” Hank sighed. “Like she’s asleep and dreaming. She just won’t wake up.”

“She seemed surprised when she slipped into unconsciousness. Like she could feel it and was fighting it,” Rosalee said. “I thought it strange at the time too.”

“It was like Juliette passing out from Adalind’s curse,” Nick said, frowning at the memory.

Renard frowned as well, knowing that was impossible. Adalind didn’t even know about Sloane. And Dierdre wouldn’t have access to that sort of spell. Would she? “…Where is she now?”

“Still in the ICU,” Monroe said. “They’re monitoring her for a while there before she goes to a normal room. But they’re going to start running a lot of tests too when she doesn’t wake up…”

“Alright. I can make some calls, get her in a private secure room and get us in there to look her over and figure this out.”

“You can?” Wu asked.

“I’m a police captain, the son of a prominent Hexenbiest and no matter what they want to think, my father’s family does give me some status in the world. I can pull a few strings,” he smiled wryly.

“How long will that take?” Nick asked.

“A couple of hours at the most. So, in the meantime, and I mean this respectfully, you all need to go get some rest, shower and change. You look rough.”

“I don’t want to leave her,” Rosalee said, stubborn.

“I get that, but none of you will do her any favors tired,” he said more firmly. They looked at one another and sighed, standing.

Nick paused and glanced at him. “…Thanks.”

Renard quirked a brow but nodded and walked off.

\-------------------

Sloane looked in the mirror, tilting her head slightly. Something still felt off, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Her house seemed fine, she seemed fine, Nick seemed more than fine… _Am I just feeling off today? Is it because I’m turning 30? I always said I wouldn’t let that bother me…_

She knew it wasn’t that. It felt like her memories were all jumbled together. As though there were two events side by side. One was fading but it gave her a headache trying to work them out. She sat down on the bed as she sighed, wondering why she was letting this get to her. She reached over to where her phone should be on the bedside table and blinked when she didn’t feel it. Looking over, she frowned and then looked at the other side table. Not there. Turning back, she blinked again when it was suddenly there. “…Okay…” Picking it up, she looked it over before hitting the button. Her lock screen was a picture of her, and Nick and she felt her face heat up. _Never thought I’d have something like that…_ She unlocked the phone and went to her camera roll. Some pictures she remembered instantly; others felt like they came more slowly. Moments with friends, hikes in the woods, visits to Wildred, silly moments…a whole life.

_Nick and I met…two years ago? No, more…college? No, not there…what college did I go to? Oh, yeah, University of California…Then I was a police officer in Eureka…Then I got offered a job in Portland as a detective. That’s where I met Nick, we both just became detectives. He helped me settle in and make friends. Then we started dating. We’ve lived together for a couple of years now. Is that right though…?_

“Sloane? You ready for work?” Nick called.

“Coming!” She put her phone in her pocket, grabbed her badge for her belt and headed out to the front door. Nick was waiting by the door and smiled when he saw her. Sloane wondered where he got his clothes for a moment—then it was like a memory just popped into place that they _lived together, of course he had clothes in their closet._ She smiled back and finished pulling on her jacket while they headed to where their cars were parked in the driveway. “Together or separate?”

“Separate today if that’s alright. I gotta run an errand after work, before we meet Monroe and Rosalee.”

“Don’t need help?”

He smiled and leaned down slightly to kiss her again. Sloane smiled into the kiss and more when he pulled back. “I appreciate the offer, but it would ruin a big surprise for you so no.”

She smiled. “Alright, Mr. Mysterious…”

“Ah, you know my superhero name,” he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

She laughed and lightly pushed away. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s Captain Dork!”

Nick smiled back and they climbed into their cars to head to work. The precinct looked perfectly normal as well and the feeling something was wrong began to fade as they met back up at the doors to walk in. Hank was already seated at his desk to go through some documents and smiled. “Hey there, lovebirds.”

Nick just smiled as he sat down at his desk right across from Hank’s. “Good morning, Hank.”

Sloane paused and blinked. _Weren’t our desks all together…?_ For a moment it seemed like there was static, the desks flickering in arrangement, and she grunted at a little twinge between her eyes.

“Hey, Sloane? You okay?” She looked up again and saw her desk was where it should be.

“Yeah…I might need some more coffee.”

“I was grabbing some, sit on down and I’ll get it for you,” Hank said.

Sloane smiled and nodded, sitting down to work.

\---------

Another day passed and though Sloane was moved to a regular room she showed no sign of waking up. The doctors explained that she had brain activity according to MRIs and other tests. In fact, she seemed to be dreaming according to all the tests. But they couldn’t wake her up. No external stimulus like poking or prodding even got a reaction. Nothing seemed to be keeping her asleep—the pain medication shouldn’t do that, and her bloodwork looked clean. She just wouldn’t wake up.

“It really is like Juliette,” Nick muttered, rubbing his eyes. They had gone home to change and rest but had come right back when Sloane was moved and they could visit. They were gathered in her room and Rosalee was holding her hand. It was limp and lifeless, and it worried her more and more that she wouldn’t react to anything. She’d even pinched her, and nothing happened.

“Well…we know how to cure that,” Monroe said. He looked at Renard and Nick who both blushed a little and glanced at each other, then away awkwardly.

“I can’t…” _Kiss her._ Nick said, shaking his head a little. He would of course, if it meant saving her. But it felt wrong to do so when she couldn’t consent or didn’t want it. And of course, he still wanted Juliette back.

“I don’t think it is that spell,” Renard said. “That sort of curse is passed into the bloodstream directly.”

“Like when the cat that scratched Juliette?” Rosalee asked.

“Exactly. I don’t see any kind of wound like that and I doubt from the sound of it Dierdre would poison her own knife. I’m not sure but I’d hazard a guess Sloane ingested something and that curse wouldn’t work if she ate something with it. Likely this is some other form…”

“Are there a lot like this?” Monroe asked. He knew he’d put in a state of near death himself, but this was different, his wore off with time.

“There’s a few variations. Not to mention a few wesen that like to do things to sleeping people.”

“And that sounds worse,” Hank said, grimacing.

“Well, without knowing exactly what it is, I don’t know the counter,” Rosalee said, frustrated.

“I called someone for help,” Renard sighed.

Nick was going to ask who but looked up when the door opened. Henrietta stepped through, smiling demurely. “Hello everyone…It seems you all need my help again.”

Monroe looked at Nick in confusion, but Nick sighed. “Henrietta…”

“Hen…Oh! This is…” he said, looking at her with a bit of trepidation.

“No need to look so happy, Nicholas,” she smiled, walking in. She frowned when she saw Sloane. “Oh, you weren’t kidding…” She moved over and Hank got out of her way. His past with Hexenbiests wasn’t one of the worst of them after all. Henrietta looked at Sloane, reaching up to gently move her head side to side. She then reached up to open her eye. There was a what looked like a bright blue ring around her iris, her pupils blown wide and barely reaction to the light. “…You said she had an MRI and CAT scan?”

“Yes,” Renard nodded.

“I’d like to see them.”

“Are you like…a witch doctor?” Monroe asked, uncertain.

“No, but I know what to look for that a doctor doesn’t.”

“…Fair enough.”

“I’ll get those for you,” Renard said, standing to go out of the room. He grunted softly when he exited the room and rubbed over his chest. “Not now…” He muttered. The pain faded slightly, and he sighed and continued on.

Rosalee was eyeing Henrietta as she kept looking over Sloane. “So…you know a lot about this sort of thing? Curses and such? I mean, as a Hexenbiest I guess you would…”

“I’m Weiss Hexe, technically. A white witch. I work at breaking other people’s curses. That’s why Renard recommended your friend Juliette come to me. I’m afraid in that regard I’m rather out of my depth. When I’ve never even heard of something happening before, you generally don’t know how to reverse it,” she said, smiling calmly. “The protection spells are much easier for me.”

“We do appreciate that, by the way,” Monroe said.

“Well, Sloane still owes me a favor for that,” she smiled. She opened the woman in question’s mouth and paused. The smile faded and she looked intently at her throat.

“What is it?” Rosalee asked, alert.

“…I need to see the scans to be sure but…this might be more complicated than we hoped.”

Nick frowned worriedly. “How so?”

“I don’t want to scare you…”

“Too late,” Monroe said.

Henrietta smiled wryly and looked up when Renard returned with an envelope. Hank looked at it then at him. “They just let you take that?”

“I have many contacts,” Renard said breezily. He handed Henrietta the folder and she pulled it up to look through the printouts.

“…Damn,” she muttered. “This isn’t a curse, exactly…”

“Wesen?” Nicked guessed.

“Yes, but not in a normal way. This is because of a Japanese wesen called a Baku. A dream-eater.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Monroe grimaced.

“But you’ve heard of it. You can stop it?” Rosalee asked hopefully.

“I’ve met them in the past when I traveled around the world—they aren’t bad wesen. I don’t know all the details, but they feed on the chemicals released by the brain during dreaming. They do this by actually attaching to the person as they sleep and controlling their dreams. They usually make them good dreams, so they stay asleep. They can cause nightmares and the like as well though.”

“Uh…there’s nothing attached to Sloane,” Hank pointed out.

“Not on the inside. This is where it gets complicated.” She put one of the scans up on the light board in the room and pointed to a dark spot at the base of her skull. “I can see this inside her mouth. It’s like someone has taken a _piece_ of the Baku, a sort of stitched together version of the amygdala and hypothalamus if I had to guess and turned it into a parasite. It’s latched on to the pontine area of the brainstem from the _inside_.”

“Oh,” Rosalee gasped.

“Yes. Somehow, through some immensely powerful spell work, it’s actually working and keeping Sloane asleep and dreaming without the actual wesen controlling it.”

“But why?” Nick asked, confused. “Why would Dierdre do that?”

“I can’t answer that, I have no idea. Someone must’ve put this together for her though. A normal Baku attaches to the outside at the base of the skull and has sentience to pull away. This one is just bits and parts; it can’t detach itself I don’t think. But what I do know is surgically removing it would be not only dangerous but likely ineffective given how deeply rooted it must be.” She traced a spindly line from the base of her skull down to her throat. “She’s only just able to breath with this thing there…if it grows, it could block her airway. That would require surgery like a tracheotomy, or it could kill her by causing more pressure as it grows…there’s a lot of ways this could be damaging.”

“How long would that take?” Rosalee gasped.

“Hard to say. I don’t know its growth rate. But I doubt it’ll be long if she stays asleep like this.”

“So, if we can’t cut it out, what do we do?” Monroe asked.

Henrietta was quiet and began pacing and muttering to herself. “That…no, not enough time, I’m sure…Burning it? Mm mm, could cause brain damage…”

Rosalee frowned and looked at Sloane worriedly. “I can’t believe it…Dierdre trapped her in a place she can’t fight back…”

She paused then and then nodded slowly. “That…could work.”

“Huh?” Hank asked, quirking his brow.

“Baku create a sort of literal dream world for their target. Often they make it they’re ideal world, so they don’t want to wake up. But if they do, then the connection is automatically severed. It might still work.”

“But we can’t wake her up,” Nick said impatiently.

“Not from out here,” she smiled. “There’s a spell. It’s difficult but I can essentially merge two people’s minds in their dreams.”

“A Traumweber spell?” Renard asked in surprise. “Even my mother hesitates doing something that difficult…”

“Well, I won’t be able to do it on all of you. But I should be able to manage one of you.”

“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?” Nick asked. After all, it usually was in this case.

“In a way. Time moves different in there. It’s disorienting, to say the least, as she could be dreaming of the past. Her memories could be mixed in or you could even stumble on things she tried to lock away in her subconscious. The biggest danger would be losing the sense of self in her mind to the point even when we pull the person out they’ll be…fractured.”

“So, it’s like that movie with Leonardo DiCaprio?” Monroe asked. “I didn’t even understand that too well!”

“In a way. The best thing I can recommend is whoever goes is very close with her and has a strong sense of self. But it would likely be the option with the most chance she’ll wake up without any side-effects.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Nick muttered.

“I’ll go!” Rosalee said.

“Whoa, now hold on,” Monroe said. “I mean, I want Sloane back, but…”

“You don’t think I have a strong sense of self?” Rosalee asked, quirking her brow.

“No, you definitely do,” he said quickly. “Just…She mentioned her memories. I don’t know if you or Sloane want you to see those…”

“I don’t care. I already know what she did in the past,” Rosalee said.

“No, he does have a point. A Grimm might be different…it might be harder to merge you two,” Henrietta said thoughtfully.

“Then I’ll go,” Nick said. He looked at the others and nodded. “I’m also a Grimm. Whatever she’s seen or done, I would understand better I think.”

“Wait, didn’t Hector say dream seeing or whatever it was is dangerous for you?” Hank asked quickly. “I mean, it was rough on me and I’m just human. I thought my dad was killed in front of me and got possessed…”

“I have a few questions, but that sounds different. Merging two Grimms would probably work best,” Henrietta said. She looked at Nick. “Are you sure though? You might see things Sloane would prefer you not see.”

“Then she can get angry when she wakes up,” Nick said.

Henrietta smiled. “Alright then…I’ll need something from you for the spell.”

“What?”

“An object. Something that symbolizes a dream you once had—one that hasn’t come true.”

They were quiet a moment before Monroe gave a nervous last. “That is oddly specific…”

“Magic always requires a price,” Henrietta smiled. “If it’s not energy, it’s pain. If it’s not physical pain, it’s sacrifice. Whatever you give me will likely be destroyed I’m afraid as I’ll be using it as a conduit. But the more emotion tied to it, the better.”

Nick looked down then sighed. “I…have something in mind. I’ll go get it now.”

“Don’t rush. I have to get everything else ready first.”

“What are we going to owe you for this?” Hank asked.

“…I have one thing in mind. You won’t like it though.”

“Does anyone actually like a price for something?” Renard sighed.

“What is it?” Nick asked hesitantly.

“To not kill Adalind Schade.”

They all went quiet again, and Nick stood. There was a feeling, a scent of ozone in the air and Monroe and Rosalee both tensed. This was the kind of Grimm aura Sloane knew how to exude. The kind that was like a storm cloud around him. “Excuse me.”

Henrietta to her credit didn’t even flinch. “I’m not saying you can’t dislike or even hate her for everything she’s done to you. But don’t kill her.”

“Why do you care what happens to her?” he asked, still glaring.

“Because…Her mother was once a good friend. Before she went down a bad path. Catharine was a bad influence on her daughter. And grief and anger clouded her judgment further. I don’t condone any of what she did to you or the others…” She glanced at Renard who sighed and looked away. Henrietta knew on some level a lot of what happened was his fault. Hank’s curse, Juliette’s curse—all this was put into motion because of him. Adalind made her choices and so did he. “But she’s a talented witch and has it in her to be something better than her mother. I want to give her that chance, and part of that is going to be making sure she actually isn’t hunted down. I know Juliette won’t agree, but at least I hope I can get a promise from you she won’t die by your hand.”

Nick stared her down for a moment before he looked at Sloane. _We can find another option…but if she’s right, she might not have a lot of time…Do I risk her life for a chance at revenge?_ He already knew the answer and sighed. “Fine. Adalind won’t be killed by me.”

“Promise?” Henrietta said, holding out her hand.

Nick took it. “Yes.”

She smiled, then looked the others and nodded to their hands. “I’ll need an agreement from the rest of you too.”

Hank, Monroe and Rosalee huffed—maybe still planning to confront her one day—but they all put their hands on theirs when prompted again. They yelped when they felt a sting and pulled their hands back. A small rune of a circle with for stems radiating from it with a spade-like shape at the ends appeared and the disappeared. “What the heck was that?” Hank asked.

“Just a rune to seal our promise. An Akoma ntoso—the linked hearts. A symbol of understanding and agreement. Protection is one of my specialties after all,” she smiled, wiggling her fingers.

“You make it sound like you don’t trust us,” Nick said a bit sourly.

“Do you trust me?” she said breezily. Nick was quiet and she smiled knowingly. “I don’t blame you, but I promise I’m here to help. I’m going to go start preparing. We can use the spell tomorrow, so long as we can keep things private here in the hospital.”

“I’ll make sure of that,” Renard nodded. He looked at his watch and sighed. “I need to go do a press briefing regarding some of the recent killings…”

“Who’s dying now?” Monroe asked, sounding tired.

“Sex workers,” he said, shaking his head and rubbing over his eyes. “Someone is slitting their throats and then removing bits of their insides…”

“Sorry I asked…” he said.

“You think it’s wesen?” Nick asked.

“I think you have enough to worry about and getting Sloane back is more important. I’ll let you know what’s happening if I really need you on the case.”

Nick sighed. He wasn’t sure how he could prepare for this, but he knew this was what he needed to do.

\------------------

Juliette was trying to figure out how to make money now that she was a hexenbiest. Returning to the vet clinic didn’t seem like an option. She’d gotten several calls asking why she hadn’t been coming to work but had just ignored them. She had no idea how to explain this after all and didn’t really want to try. And despite her assurances to Nick and Sloane she could help people, she was learning that healing magic was harder than she thought. Even knowing basic anatomy didn’t help. She tried to heal a hurt stray dog and he’d yelped and limped off the moment she tried. When she caught him and tried again, the wound rippled but wouldn’t close and he just whined further. She tried harder and he howled with pain before she stopped. That was a sound she’d always hated, even as a vet and a hexenbiest. She ended up leaving him at another vet office but by then it was so scared of her that it just shook as it curled up, expecting her to kill him. And that brought more frustration.

But back to the issue of money. Her savings were alright still but she didn’t want to keep dipping into them without a way to build them back up. Kenneth’s promise of setting her up for life came to mind but she sighed. Adalind going to the royals for help started all this. And she was well aware they wouldn’t hesitate to turn on her as well.

As if summoned by her thoughts her phone rang and she frowned at the _Private Number_ on screen before answering.

“Juliette, good morning,” Kenneth said smoothly.

“I had a feeling this was you,” she sighed.

“I’ll try to take the disappointed sigh in stride,” he smiled. “Have you given any further thought to my offer?”

“It’s been a day, I’m still mulling it over,” she said.

“Really? I thought it rather tempting.”

“I’m sure you would.”

He chuckled. “Well…I’m afraid a bit of it has to change.”

“What?”

“Adalind escaped. Apparently she took the opportunity of my leaving to come get yet to run. Not a stupid woman at least.”

Juliette frowned. “So, you lost her. What makes you think I’m going to put any more consideration to your “offer”?”

“Well, really, I think it the best option for you still.”

“That’s adorable that you think that,” she said mock sweetly.

Kenneth just huffed out a laugh, though his amusement dimmed. “You know, I really do think your loyalty misplaced. I mean, would you consider Mr. Burkhardt to be this loyal to you? When he can’t even stand to look at you?”

Juliette narrowed her eyes a little. “And what, you wouldn’t? Considering how you talk about Adalind, not sure I want to be a part of an alliance with you.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. Hexenbiests are useful. Even fun. But Adalind ruffles me for different reasons. Gold digging, disloyal, uses her unborn child as a bargaining chip then runs away. Putting my family through all this drama, as if we don’t have our own to deal with. And my grandfather’s obsession with her child. I can own up to being a little bitter about having to deal with all that and taking it out on her. You though could be the answer I need to get this ball rolling and get home.”

“So, you want to use me?”

“Yes? But at least I’m upfront about it. I wouldn’t simply go off dancing while you were dealing with all this.”

“You’re trying to manipulate me.”

“A little. But I know what I see. He says he loves you, tries so hard to keep you close, but refuses to accept what you’ve become. Leaves you in jail because you’re “dangerous”. It’s hurtful and stifling I would imagine. But then he’s so good at compartmentalizing—still solving murders, hunting wesen, all that. And all through it he’s had such a good circle of friends around him. Who agree with _him_ , not you.”

“Laying it on a bit thick there, Kenny,” Juliette said, not amused.

“A bit…but also trying to warn you,” he said, losing a little patience.

“Warn me?”

“I saw the paper from last week. Mr. Burkhardt smiles very convincingly through supposed broken heart. And the look on Ms. Larson’s face…not to brag but I know a smitten woman when I see one.”

Juliette glared a little. “Sloane? You think Sloane is in love with Nick?”

“I’m fairly certain of it. Now I can’t be certain what he feels, but…well, with you gone, he seems to be getting closer and closer to her. Maybe she sees the opportunity. And they are both Grimms, yes? So much in common! More than you and he ever had maybe.” Juliette gripped her phone, breathing deeply. Kenneth smiled. “Say what you will, but Nick seems to have given up on you. Left you to rot in jail while he worked cases. Push you aside. Now he’s focused on a new girl. I’m just saying, maybe he’s decided you’re just not worth it. A foolish mistake obviously. But what will you do about it?”

He hanged up then and Juliette start at the comforter for a few moments while her mind raced around. When a white feather landed on her hand she turned and saw the pillows had exploded behind her from her thoughts twisting around and around. Thousands of white feathers were floating in the air and she glared, several going up in small licks of fire.

Meanwhile, Kenneth was smiling to himself. Rispoli didn’t look so sure as he cleaned one of his guns. “You think that’s enough, my lord?”

“Sometimes a seed of doubt is all you need to plant for it to spread and choke the life out of a pretty little garden.”

“…Poetic.”

“Shut up. Besides, she’s already unstable. She keeps flipping her emotions like cards. Tipping her over shouldn’t be hard.”

\------------------------

Sloane didn’t really remember working that day. That should worry her, but when it was time to go home she didn’t really mind as they rose to get ready and leave. “I gotta run that errand. I’ll meet you at Monroe and Rosalee’s for dinner?”

“We are? I mean, yeah, I’ll see you there,” she smiled. He smiled back and gave her another kiss before climbing into his car. Sloane sighed and climbed into her car as well, heading for Monroe and Rosalee’s house. Everything seemed like it should when she arrived and she sighed, wondering why she was so out of it.

Rosalee answered the door and smiled, giving her a hug. “Hey! Glad you made it.”

“Yeah, can never tell what’s going to crop up at your job,” Monroe chuckled, hugging her as well.

“It was a…quiet day, for once,” she smiled.

“Oh, that’s new,” Rosalee chuckled. “Dinner’s still cooking.”

“That’s fine, I know I’m early. Nick will be by in a bit, he said he had to do something.”

Rosalee looked excited for a moment before someone else from the kitchen called. “I got tea!” Sloane looked up and for a moment she felt frozen.

“…Juliette?”

She smiled, walking in and setting the tray of iced tea down. “Yeah, my flight got in early.”

“Flight? Flight from where?”

“From Sacramento?” She tilted her head, frowning worriedly. “Sloane, you okay? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I…aren’t you angry with us?”

“Angry? Why would I be angry?” she laughed.

“Because of the Hexenbiest thing…”

“Hex…what?” she said.

“The Hexenbiest—you turned into one! A wesen?”

“Wesen?” Rosalee asked. Sloane looked at her, confused. Rosalee was looking at her equally confused.

“Wesen. You, you’re…a fox…the word…”

“Hey, I know she’s foxy but…” Monroe said. Rosalee rolled her eyes, nudging him a little.

“What’s the word…” Sloane grunted a bit and shook her head. Her thoughts were getting cloudy. “Wolf, fox…Juliette…I’m a…with Nick…” _What’s the word?_

Juliette looked more sympathetic and walked over, speaking quietly and reassuringly. “Hey, that was years ago…we’re past that, remember? I’m the one that left. We’re all good friends now.”

“Years…right…I’ve been weird all day, sorry,” she said, smiling.

“Hey, it’s understandable. I mean, I thought Nick would be the nervous one—” Monroe started, and oofed when Rosalee elbowed him a little harder. “I mean, uh…It’s your birthday tomorrow, it’s a big one too. You’re probably just excited.”

“I guess that’s true,” she smiled. She accepted a glass of tea from Juliette to drink, relaxing a little more as her head cleared. _What was I so worried about anyway?_

“Oh, but I gotta show you this! We went shopping and I found this really nice mantle clock—it needs a little work but you gotta see it,” Monroe said, leading her to his workspace. Rosalee smiled and followed and he showed her the clock. It was indeed very lovely—a marbled base with a bronze statuette of a winged man in repose on top of the clock itself, a beautiful woman looking longingly on him and holding his face. “Pretty neat, right? It’s Cupid and Psyche.”

Sloane blinked, her mind whirring. “Cupid and Psyche…where he’s asleep and she’s trying to wake him up…” She blinked and then started when the clock was different—now it was a chariot with a man in driving it, the clock face as the wheel. “What?”

“What? I said it’s a 19th century roman inspired piece. Needs some cleaning and repair, but I think it’ll go for a good price once I’m done.”

“I…yeah,” she nodded. “It’s cool.”

“What’s really cool is the history. I’m still tracking some of it, but I think it might’ve been owned by—”

“Ahem,” Rosalee said, waving her hand. Monroe paused, then looked at Sloane again.

“Uh…actually, I don’t want to bore you. Why don’t we go on a walk?”

Sloane arched her brow. “A walk?”

“Yeah, before dinner is ready. See the sunset. You know the park is just right out my back yard, it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, dinner just needs to cool in the oven so lets just go out for a bit,” Rosalee agreed.

“Okay…” Sloane said, smiling indulgently. They smiled back and lead her out to the back and through the gate he had into the park. The sunset was indeed beautiful, with pink and blue clouds smeared over the orange and blue canvas. Sloane smiled as they walked because it did remind her a lot of walking in the woods as a kid around this time with her grandmother. “This is nice. Good idea. …Guys?” She paused, looking around. Monroe and Rosalee weren’t behind her. That made her nervous and she kept looking around before pausing. Even through the slowly fading light she could see something that looked like a lot of lights in the distance among the trees. Frowning, she moved a little further in and slowed when she came to a small clearing that was decorated with Christmas lights. They were hanging from the trees, twinkling like fireflies or stars that were floating around her. Under them was a large board set up on an easel with a bigger light on it like a spotlight, a circle of red flower petals around it. It reminded her of one of the link boards they’d make for a crime at a distance and she walked forward slowly. Indeed, it was like one of those boards, but instead of crime and clues it was pictures of Nick and Sloane happy together, places around Portland she had those vague memories of being with him, her family and friends. Red thread was woven around the pictures and she realized it was in the shape of a heart. She smiled a little, looking them all over. One photo right in the center, with clear space in the shape of a heart around it so it stood out. It was of the place they were in now—a polaroid of this scene taken just minutes ago. Curious, she reached up and picked it off the board and turned it over in her hands like a piece of evidence. There was something written in sharpie on the other side.

_Turn around_

She turned her head and dropped the picture in surprise when she saw Nick was there, down on one knee. Monroe and Rosalee were a little further behind, grinning as well from behind a couple of trees. Nick smiled brightly. “Hey…um…So I had a big speech planned but I can’t remember what it is now…”

“What…?” she asked, turning a bit more. “Are you…?”

He smiled and lifted up a hand, holding a ring box open with a beautiful, dazzling stone. “Sloane Larson, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

Sloane stared and then felt something she hadn’t really felt before. Tears were welling up in her eyes but not from anger or sadness or anything like that. They were the first tears she could remember falling in joy. “Yes!”

“Yes? Yes!” He laughed and surged up, holding her close and spinning her around. There was cheering and she looked up to see Monroe, Rosalee, Hank, Juliette, Wu, Renard, Bud—all their friends were there with sparklers and Sloane couldn’t remember when she’d been this happy before.

\-----------------------

Henrietta sighed as she looked over the recipe one more time before putting a cauldron over the small fire in her fireplace. Checking as you brew was the best way to keep from making a mistake.

Adalind came down, sniffing the air and detecting a sweet, almost chilly scent in the air. “…Bog Myrtle? Are you having trouble sleeping?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No, not me. I’ve made a deal with Mr. Burkhardt. I help a friend of his, he promises your safe from him.”

Adalind’s eyes widened and she walked over. “Really? I mean…There’s a lot of other things you could’ve asked for…”

“But I promised to make sure you’d be safe.” She woged and waved her hand over the pot. Despite not touching it, the mixture began turning with the movement of her hand and slowly turning from green to a dark blue. Adalind watched then looked at the prep table in her room. Ashwagandha, Chamomile, Bog Myrtle, Lemon balm, Mugwort, Passionflower, Silene capensis, Valerian, Skullcap, Vervain, Wild Asparagus, Wormwood…and a few rare ingredients only Hexenbiests would know. She looked at the book and her eyes widened as she read the description.

“Dream sharing? What does Nick need to do that for?”

She finished stirring, changing back to put a lid on the mixture, removing it from the fire. “Miss Larson is being afflicted by a sort of wesen condition.”

“…Sorry, who?”

Henrietta brought the pot over to the worktable and set it on a small square of black stone. “Sloane Larson? …Ooh, you haven’t met her,” Henrietta remembered. “She’s the other Grimm in town.”

Adalind’s jaw dropped. “A…another Grimm?!”

“Yes. She’s been here about two years I hear. Didn’t get a chance to meet you before. Good friends with Mr. Burkhardt and the others. Not a big fan of you after the body switching assault of Mr. Burkhardt however, or Juliette’s change…” She took the lid back off as she spoke and poured the concoction through a cheese cloth over a glass jar to strain it.

She swallowed. “Did she agree not to kill me too?”

“She can’t. Currently she’s been put into a coma because someone managed to use a part of a Baku to do it. But it’s not sentient, it’s…enchanted. Powerfully, if it’s still doing its job.”

“Baku?”

“A Japanese dream-eating wesen, so to speak.” She screwed on a lid and picked the jar up, shaking it vigorously. Like a bartender making a margarita.

“Oh…doesn’t sound fun…”

“Usually they’re harmless really, but as I said, no sentience makes this dangerous. It’s stuck at the back of her throat, digging into her brain from there. It’ll just keep going, keeping her in a coma and growing fat and possibly killing her. I’m making this potion so that Mr. Burkhardt can try to wake her up from the inside, so to speak. If she can wake up it’ll flood that thing with the sort of chemicals and hormones that should make it let go.”

“You can’t just use a potion or a spell?”

She set the jar down and it was now a bright turquoise blue and no longer liquid—it was now sand. “…I didn’t want to mention this to them, but the truth is the magic I sensed from that thing is something different. Something I haven’t felt from another hexenbiest. I don’t think it is a hexenbiest, but something older and more powerful. I don’t know if our sort of spell work could actually effect it or make things worse.”

Adalind realized she was serious before she could ask and swallowed. “That’s…kind of scary.”

“Indeed. But I’m ready for tomorrow. Hopefully he is as well…” There was a knock at the door and Adalind jumped and looked at it in fear. “Easy, don’t worry. I know who it is, he called earlier. But you can wait here, I don’t know if he’s ready to talk to you about this.”

She frowned and Henrietta closed the pocket doors enough that Adalind could listen in if she chose before heading to the front parlor. She opened the door to see a very flustered Sean there and frowned. This was worse than she thought. “Sean. What's wrong?”

“Something's happening to me,” he panted. He opened his shirt a little and she gasped when she saw the red circles on his shirt, dripping with blood.

“You were shot again? Come in, I’ll try and heal you!”

Renard shook his head but still walked in. “No. This is from when I was shot before. It's the same wounds. They were healed. Then they just started bleeding. It's happened over and over. It happened while I was trying to give a press conference—I’m lucky I finished talking and walked off the stage before anyone saw!”

Henrietta frowned deeply, looking at them, then up to his sweaty, pinched face. What he was feeling was painful and frightening obviously. “Has anyone else seen this?”

“I went to see a doctor. I had an MRI. I had a CAT scan. They say there's nothing wrong with me, but there is something wrong with me!”

“Okay. I need you to sit down,” she said gently, leading him to one of the chairs. Adalind frowned and moved to go a little further in. She knew Renard was experiencing side-effects after being shot and brought back, but they were still going on?

Henrietta set him in the chair in her sitting room and sat across from him. “Have there been any dreams?”

He sighed and nodded. “Yeah. I keep reliving the moment I was shot. And then I wake up and I... I have this dream that something is reaching for me. Something not human…or wesen, I don’t think…” He rubbed at his eyes. “And I've had blackouts.”

“And where are you when that happens?” she asked, wracking her brain.

“I don't know,” he shook his head. “I keep waking up in these strange places...In a pool, at a fountain, in my... my bathtub.”

“Always around water?” she asked, curiosity piqued.

“Yeah. I just... I just don't know how I got there!” he said, voice cracking and body shaking.

Adalind frowned, feeling her sympathy twist a little. She remembered feeling like she was losing her mind in the cell in the castle. The desperation, the fear, just wanting it to be over and have answers…

“Okay. I need you to calm down,” Henrietta said, taking his shoulders.

He shook his head again, looking at her. “Look, c-can you help me or not?”

She sighed, worried but unsure. “I don't know. It's gonna take some time.”

“No, I don't have time!” he barked, standing. Henrietta was surprised and stood as well. “I don't even know why I came here! This is a complete waste!” He strode towards the front door again.

“Sean! Sean don’t leave!” she said. But he was already gone, slamming the door behind him.

Adalind came out, worried. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s not good,” she sighed.

“Should we go after him?”

She smiled. “I’m worried too, but he’s still as stubborn as ever and very on edge.” She looked at the clock in her parlor and sighed. “I’ll be meeting them at the hospital in the morning, so I need to rest up. We can check on him afterwards.”

Adalind nodded but still looked at the door. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I can help you clean up?”

She smiled and nodded, accepting her help to dispose of all her unused bits of ingredients properly. “How do you want me to clean this?” she said, picking up the small cauldron.

“I have a solution of apple cider vinegar and olive oil under the sink in the kitchen. That and a cup of salt—”

“Scrub it with around and rinse with hot water and dry immediately?” She smiled. “My mother did the same thing…”

She smiled a little. “Well…It’s nice to know she remembered our old techniques.”

Adalind nodded and took the cauldron to the kitchen to work on it. She found a rubber glove and used her hands to scrub the salt mixture around before rinsing it three times with hot water and toweling it completely dry. She was just finishing when she heard a thud and the sound of something breaking. Frowning, she opened the door slightly—the house was still pretty original and didn’t have an open floorplan after all. So, she couldn’t see to the front door, just through the dining room to the living room. “Henrietta?”

There was no answer, but she heard footsteps rushing away. Adalind felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She walked further in. “Henrietta? Is everything oka-” When she got to the parlor, Henrietta was on the ground, choking around a bloody wound to her neck. A vase she kept on the table in the foyer was broken and the door was open, the attacker fleeing into the night before she came out. Adalind was shocked for a moment before rushing over. “No! Oh God, no, Henrietta!”

She was trying to heal the wound, Adalind could tell, but it was harder to heal yourself than others. Or so she’d been told. In all honesty, healing was never her strong suit. She was too selfish, she knew. Her mother more so and had never had the ability enough o teach her beyond tiny little imperfections. But seeing the fear in Henrietta’s eyes, the chill of death trying to creep in, Adalind ripped the rubber glove off and pressed her hand to bloody wound. “Heal…heal, _dammit!_ ” She woged and felt her power flowing into her hands, but different than when she attacked. It was warm and radiating, not the swift icy feeling she got when she’d hurt someone. The bleeding slowed to a trickle instead of a gush and Henrietta relaxed slightly in relief. But she still looked pretty bad. Feeling like they had more time, Adalind grabbed her phone from her pocket and with bloody fingers called 911. “I need an ambulance out to 118 Ol-” Her jaw worked soundlessly, and she cursed. Henrietta’s scrambling charm was still in effect.

The other witch looked ready to pass out but pointed shaking hand at her bookshelf. “T…turtle…” she half-rasped, half-gurgled.

Adalind quickly rushed over while the operator was trying to talk to her, scanning the shelves till she found an old turtle shell. Picking it up, she saw the charm engraved on the bottom. Rushing out, she threw it clear across the street so it’s power would stop working on the house. “118 Old Mill Rd! My friend’s been attacked, she’s bleeding badly, send help!”

\------------------------------

Nick arrived at the hospital early in the morning. He was ready, he told himself, to do whatever weird ritual thing he had to in order to save Sloane. Time, sweat, blood, sanity—he’d given them all before for his friends. Even what he had to give up, burning in his pocket, he knew was worth it despite the ache it gave him.

But after an hour Henrietta hadn’t shown up.

Part of him was angry, another betrayed, another terrified. He looked at Sloane’s prone form and growled as he stood and walked out to make a call. He didn’t have Henrietta’s number memorized but he knew who else to call.

Except Renard wasn’t answering his phone.

He growled under his breath, trying not to break his phone. He was about to head back inside when he saw Monroe and Rosalee walking up and waved.

“Hey, man, I thought you’d be in dreamland by now,” Monroe said.

“Henrietta hasn’t shown up,” he said.

“What? But it’s past 10…” Rosalee said.

“I know! And I don’t remember her number—unscrambled that is—and I can’t get ahold of Renard!”

“We can drive to her house?” Monroe said.

Nick sighed, nodding that that might be the best course of action, when he saw someone coming up the hallway. He did drop his phone, making Monroe and Rosalee pause in surprise. Thankfully it had a tough case, so it was fine. But he didn’t care. He didn’t care because Adalind Schade walked hesitantly up to them. Rosalee and Monroe were shocked a moment before looking ready for a fight. “You…”

She quickly held up her hands. “I’m sorry!”

They all froze. Monroe and Rosalee glanced at one another but Nick was still looking at her. He wanted badly to…he wasn’t sure, maybe kill her, maybe at least hit her. But his hand burned at the thought and he knew Henrietta’s promise was still in effect. “You’re sorry? _Sorry?_ ”

“I know…I know words aren’t enough for all I’ve done, but I need to say them. Yes, I am sorry. I did a lot of stupid, horrible things to you. I just…I wanted Diana back, but I did awful things and I can’t even excuse what I did to you, and then to Juliette and…” she took a deep breath. “I don’t expect forgiveness. But I at least need to say it.”

Nick actually calmed just slightly, looking at her in confusion. Was this really Adalind?

“Okay, are you actually Adalind?” Monroe asked, voicing his thought.

“…Yes?” she sighed. “I’m me, but I’m at least finally wiser. I’m not here to pick any fights or make things worse, I swear.”

“What are you doing here?” Rosalee asked. She wasn’t friendly, if anything she was suspicious.

“…Henrietta…she was attacked last night.”

“What?” Nick said, alert now.

“What did you do now?” Monroe growled.

“Not by me! I’m staying with her, after managing to escape the royals. I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“Then what did?” Nick asked.

“I’m not entirely sure…I was helping her clean up and I…I was in the kitchen and I heard something, and when I went out she…she was on the floor…her throat was cut,” she swallowed, rubbing at her own neck. She shook a little haunted at the memory. “I-I managed to heal her enough she didn’t’ die but she’s been recovering since late last night. Surgery and a lot of blood transfusions…”

“…Where is she?” Nick asked.

Adalind hesitated but motioned for him to follow. Nick picked up his phone as they did, going to the elevator and up a couple of floors. The room wasn’t far from Sloane’s they found out and she walked them in. Henrietta was resting, a bandage around her neck and more blood being put back into her. She cracked tired eyes open and smiled a little. Grabbing a piece of paper, she used a marker to write down _Hello, Detective_ on a pad by her side.

“Henrietta…what happened?” Nick asked, shocked.

She sighed and wrote quickly. _Not sure…blacked out there for a bit…Someone came in and tried to kill me._

“Could it be Dierdre?” Monroe asked.

_I’m under the same protective spell, not likely. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for Adalind._

Adalind ducked her head a little at the praise and Nick eyed her. “…I’m glad you’re alive.”

 _That’s sweet_ , she smiled. _I’m also in no condition to do the rest of the spell though._

“…Can it wait till your better?”

She started to shake her head and winced. Adalind put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. _No…I can’t tell how much time she has or when I’ll be back to normal. But I don’t think waiting is a good option_.

“Then what option do we have?” Rosalee asked.

Henrietta looked up at Adalind. Adalind blinked then her eyes widened. “Oh…I don’t…I mean, that spell is pretty difficult…”

 _You’ve done harder_ , Henrietta reminded her blandly.

“Yeah, with a body count,” she muttered.

_I already have the potion made. You have the conduit, Nick?_

He hesitated but nodded slowly.

“…I don’t think they want my help,” Adalind said more quietly, unable to look at Nick or the others.

 _Want, no. Need, yes._ She looked at Nick when he frowned. _You don’t have a lot of options._

Nick looked at war with himself a moment before looking at his phone. “…Let me try one more.”

Henrietta frowned but sighed as he quickly went to find a place he could make a call. The phone rang a couple of times and he paced, muttering _c’mon_ several times. Finally, it picked up.

“Nick?” Juliette asked, uncertain.

“Hey…”

“Hey…” she said back.

“…How are you?”

“Well…I’m free if you haven’t heard.”

“I heard,” he nodded. “…I heard it was a royal who did it.”

“Yes. But I’m not with them if that’s what you’re worried about,” she said.

Nick breathed out slightly. “I’m glad…you can’t trust them.”

“I realize that.”

“Good…”

“Nick, why did you call?” she asked, impatiently.

 _Why did you pick up?_ Was a tempting comeback but he just took a breath. “…We need your help.”

There was a long pause before she spoke again. “My help?”

“…As a Hexenbiest. With a spell.”

Another pause before she actually laughed a little. “Unbelievable…so now that it’s convenient for you, you’re actually asking for me to use magic?”

“Juliette,” he sighed.

“No, no, this is rich. You avoid me, leave me in jail, can’t even look at me since you found out about this and now you like that I’m a Hexenbiest because it means I can do something for you?” she went on, getting upset.

“It’s to help Sloane!” Nick nearly shouted.

Another pause. “Sloane? Why does she need help?”

“She’s under some kind of influence. Like what Adalind did to you.”

“Oh, is she going to be a Hexenbiest too?”

“No, like—the first time. When she cursed you to sleep. But it’s more complicated. We need help with a spell so I can help wake her up.”

“With a kiss?” she asked snidely.

“No, it’s more complicated than that. I have to see her dreams or go into them—look, I can explain more when you get down here.”

“When? Wow, that’s presumptuous.”

“Juliette, Sloane could die if we don’t do this!”

She sighed. “…What do you need me to do?”

“I…don’t know exactly, but Henrietta does. She’s just not able to do it right now. She has a potion and then I have to use a conduit I brought…” he trailed off, realizing what he’d have to admit to bringing.

“Conduit? What kind of conduit?” He was quiet and she pressed. “What conduit? What do you mean?”

“…Henrietta…said I had to bring a symbol of a dream I had that hasn’t come true,” he said haltingly.

“…Okay. What did you bring?”

Nick felt over his pocket on instinct then sighed. “…The ring I bought you,” he said quietly.

“…And what do you do with it?”

“I don’t know…”

“Will it be destroyed?”

“…I don’t know. But she said possibly.”

It was quiet again and he felt the wind pass by as it whipped past the roof.

“So…just like that, huh?”

“Juliette, I can get another ring—!” he started.

“If you think this about the ring, you really are an idiot,” she bit out. She then hanged up and Nick stared at the phone before sighing and putting it in his pocket. He leaned against the side of the building for a short time before turning to head back in and back to Henrietta’s room.

“You really expect us to believe you changed?” Monroe was asking Adalind when he returned, glaring at her.

“…You can believe what you want,” she sighed.

Rosalee frowned but then looked at Nick hopefully. “You tried Juliette?”

Adalind tensed, looking ready to run, but stopped when Nick sighed. “Yes. But she declined.”

“What?” Rosalee asked, surprised.

“She’s not thrilled that, after asking her to not be a Hexenbiest anymore, I want her to do a spell for us,” he said.

“…Well, that’s a little fair,” Monroe said, grimacing.

Nick didn’t argue but looked at Adalind. “…I promised not to hurt you. Henrietta sealed that promise.”

Adalind nodded. “She told me. So, I can understand why your hesitant, since I haven’t made a promise back. And other reasons, obviously,” she added. They gave her a blunt look and she sighed. “I don’t know the same kind of oath spells Henrietta does and she’s not in any condition to do it for us. The only ones I know need another hexenbiest too. The best I can do is promise that I’ll help and…let my actions speak for me.”

“Oh, they say a lot about you,” Monroe muttered.

Adalind glared a little. “I’m _trying_ to make amends and do better! I’m sorry I did awful things to Nick, but I was a bit desperate and not thinking clearly after you all and his mother _kidnapped my child._ Was I just supposed to be okay with her disappearing like that? Not do anything? Or be okay finding out you all had a hand in it?”

Monroe and Rosalee had the decency to look a little chagrinned at that. Nick though looked at her suspiciously. “Is this a way to try and find out where she is?”

“…I won’t lie, I want to know. I want her back. She is maybe the only good thing I’ve done in years. But I sort of had to face facts that you all were right not to trust me…I haven’t done anything to really win that trust, ever. The royals aren’t going to give up either. I should’ve realized they were using me and lying to me. And going along with what they wanted I…am not the sort of person, Hexenbiest or not, that should be influencing her. And furthermore, she’s not safe until we can stop the royals and that’s going to take a while. So, she is safer with your mother.” She looked at him, determined and hopeful. “If I can prove to you, by helping you here and other places, that I can change and make amends…Can you at least let me contact her?”

Nick stared at her for a moment, trying hard to see a hint of deception. But she looked sincere. “…Help us wake Sloane up. From there, we’ll see.”

“Nick?” Monroe asked, both and Rosalee surprised. Adalind was surprised to but looked close to crying with relief.

“She’s our best option right now. We don’t know any other Hexenbiests that are willing to help Sloane.”

“But this spell is going to like…knock you out, right?” Monroe asked quietly, next to him now.

“Which is why you’re going to watch the whole time,” he replied back equally quietly. Monroe nodded in realization and gave him a thumbs up.

“Do you need to go get the potion?” Rosalee asked.

“No, Henrietta made me grab it before we came here…”

“I had a feeling,” she rasped out.

“No talking, you heard the doctor, you need to rest. Your vocal chords were nearly cut…” Adalind said as she pulled a bottle out of her bag. It was an opalescent blue glass and the sand inside still a bright turquoise. Henrietta just hummed. “Are you okay alone?” She smiled and hummed again, waving a hand. Adalind nodded and walked to the door. “Where’s your friend?”

“This way,” Nick said, leading her down the hall. Sloane was still hooked up to machines for her heart rate, but she was looking paler he noted.

Adalind frowned and walked over, opening Sloane’s mouth. She could see a black spot at the back of her throat that was now a growth about the size of a small pea. “…I see what Henrietta was talking about. This is different than anything I’ve dealt with before.”

“This will work though, right?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know honestly, but Henrietta thought so and I trust her judgment on this.” She looked at him. “You’re sure you want to do this though? Because this spell is pretty…hardcore, honestly. You’re going to basically be in her head for a while. Time will feel different, places will feel different. It’ll feel very real. Plus, you’ll see a lot of things about her you might not want to. Things and thoughts she doesn’t want you to see. Heck, you might even get into her memories since they’re pretty linked. Even best-friends or lovers should really think this through.”

“…She can be mad at me when she’s awake,” he said.

Adalind sighed but nodded. She set the jar down and pulled out the spell book, flipping through it to the right page marked by the ribbon bookmark. “Okay…you have a conduit?”

“Getting tired of that word, but yes…” He pulled out the ring box and opened it up to take the ring out.

“Oh, Nick…” Rosalee said, frowning in sympathy.

“…It hasn’t come true _yet._ That was the stipulation,” he said. Monroe nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder. Adalind didn’t ask questions—she put it together fairly quick that was an engagement ring—and walked to the other bed in the room to push it over to the side of Sloane’s bed.

“You’ll want to lay down. This is going to put you into a deep sleep as well,” she said. Nick nodded and sat on the bed. He hesitated but handed the ring to Adalind when she held out her hand. She set the book on the bedside table and read through the spell again. “Okay…The rings pretty perfect for this, so that’s good. But I need a bit of your hair and a bit of hers.”

“…Cut or pluck?” Rosalee asked.

“Plucking works best…at least ten hairs.”

Rosalee sighed and went to Sloane’s side. “I’m sorry about this…” She plucked the hairs from Sloane’s head and she didn’t even stir.

Nick did his own, wincing at the sting but holding them out. Adalind took them between her fingers in each hand and walked back over to the table. She tied the hairs around the ring with her magic and then slipped it through a cord of lavender colored silk she also had in her bag. Walking over, she tied one end to Nick’s wrist. “Lay down…please.” Nick quirked a brow at the please but did so while she tied the other end around Sloane’s wrist. The ring was in the center, hanging between them. She then picked up the jar. “Okay…ready?”

Nick sighed. “As I’ll ever be…”

“Wait!” Rosalee said quickly. “When will he wake up?”

“Ah…” She looked at the book. “According to this, he’ll wake up either when she does, or if he’s pushed out of the dream, like you would be if you had a nightmare. …Or they could end up permanently linked and become a vegetable if he goes too deep into her mind that he can’t get out.”

“What?!” they all barked.

“Hey, this is Henrietta’s book!” she said quickly, blushing. “I’m doing my best, but my spell books were always…darker, honestly. Light magic is new for me.”

“That’s not dark?!” Monroe asked.

“Considering no blood or trimmed body parts are necessary, yes, it’s not.”

They all grimaced. Nick sighed but laid back. “Just…get it over with. I’ll wake Sloane and we’ll both be fine.”

Monroe and Rosalee both looked worried but sighed and sat back down. Adalind nodded and opened the jar before woging. Slowly she tipped the jar so that the sand began pouring out over the ring, chanting in Latin. “ _Mens et animus, et somniare somnia. Suscitat Usque ad unum: et duas confusa sint._ ” (Mind to soul, dream to dream. Until one awakes, the two be merged.) She chanted the phrase over and over and the sand began to float and weave in patterns around the link between them, then over their arms and up to their heads. Nick felt his eyes grow heavy, the changing growing fainter as his mind relaxed and then he was gone into the dark.

\----------------

Juliette had thrown her phone when she hanged up against the wall of the motel. It cracked, but she was too busy stewing to really care. Kenneth’s words were chasing what trust she had left for Nick around in her head, intent to snuff it out. _Am I overreacting? He said it had to be for a dream that didn’t come true. But does that mean he still wants to marry me, or the dream is dead? Could he have really moved on? To Sloane? Were they together before now? No…no, I would’ve known if he was having an affair. He was always home when he could be, even with tough cases and all the wesen things going on. He never seemed interested in her like that._

 ** _There was the Musai,_ **a voice in her head pointed out.

_That was the effect of a wesen, not a choice! Loving me broke that spell._

**_Adalind?_ **

_She was disguised as me! I…even if it felt like a betrayal, he thought it was me. I…could’ve handled that better._

**_It’s not your fault! What you felt was natural, the betrayal, the confusion! How could he not know it wasn’t you? No time for conversation, hm?_ **

She growled a little and stood, pacing. _I left after he found out I’m a hexenbiest. Maybe he and Sloane got closer then. She’s a Grimm. She understands this better than I do. Probably made sure he wouldn’t want me! The way she looked at him dancing was too happy! But…she tried to keep from attacking me when Dierdre was in control…if she’s still in trouble…_

Juliette hesitated just a moment before sighing and heading for the door.

\-------------------

When Nick was next aware of himself, he was in the woods. He blinked and sat up, looking around. The sun coming through the leaves, the heat, the feeling of his hand running through the grass. It felt…real. So real he wondered if something had happened. Had Adalind drugged him and brought him to the woods? Why?

“You gotta catch me!”

He jumped when he heard the voice and turned to see a little girl running through the woods, jumping over logs and rocks nimbly and giggling. She had on jeans and a stripped blue and white shirt and her dark hair was pulled back in a braid. She swung from a branch and landed close to him but didn’t seem to notice him as she kept moving.

“Hey…Hey!” He followed, hoping to ask where he was. The girl didn’t hear him, and he watched as she kept laughing and running without a care in the world…and suddenly they weren’t in the woods, they were at a school and she was playing tag with more children, dressed in overalls. He blinked and she was in a classroom. Then back in the woods with a couple of older women playing wither. Playing in the snow. Reading. Tea Parties. Swimming in the summer, playing in falling leaves, walking in the snow, planting flowers…It was making his head swim with how fast it was all going. Sometimes she was older, sometimes younger, but it was all centered on this girl.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and tried to will things to slow down before he got sick.

“Sloane…this is your mother.”

His eyes flew open and he looked up to see the girl, maybe seven, clinging to the legs of an older woman wearing high-waisted jeans and a button up green top. She had dark hair with fine lines of grey through it, and one streak of white down the side of her face. She had a round face, with laugh lines around her nose and mouth. She was lovely and looked warm and loving as she leaned over the girl. Nick realized she spoke with a faint German accent despite her perfect English.

Across from them in the entryway to their house was a beautiful woman, also with dark hair and a white forelock. She looked extremely uncomfortable, wearing dark greys and blues. “…Hello.”

The little girl shuffled out a little. She was wearing a lavender bathing suit with three rows of hearts over it and had her dark hair in pig-tails—and Nick almost felt like his brain was shorting to know this was Sloane. “My…mother?”

“Yes, Sunny,” her grandmother smiled. She looked at her daughter. “I was just about to take her to the lake…why don’t you walk down together while I finish getting things together.”

Dierdre frowned. “Mother…I’m not here to go down to the lake.”

“Didi…” She sighed and then looked at Sloane. “Go get your sandals.”

“Alright…” Sloane nodded and went to the mudroom at the back to get her sandals. Things remained focused around Sloane he noticed, the sound fading and the details getting fuzzy until she came back into range. She sat behind the door to the entryway to get her shoes on but also listen.

“…Your daughter, you should at least spend a little bit of time with her the rare times you come back,” Rebecca was saying.

“I didn’t come for a lecture on how to be a parent,” Dierdre said tersely. “I just need something from the basement.”

“Dierdre, just…an hour. Can’t you spend an hour with her? She asked about you not too long ago, about her mother. She can’t even remember you.”

“…Fine, one hour,” Dierdre sighed.

Rebecca smiled and hugged her. “Thank you, sweetheart. I promise if you stayed, got the feeling for it, you’d love to spend more time here.”

Dierdre sighed but didn’t say anything. “Sloane?”

Nick saw her quickly, excitedly, get up. “Y-yes?”

“I’m going to walk you down to the lake. C’mon.”

Sloane nodded and quickly followed her, waving to her grandmother as they left. Nick saw her reach up t take Dierdre’s hand and the woman tensed but allowed it as they walked to a path at the side of the house. _Did Dierdre try to be a mom?_ Nick wondered. His stomach lurched as time and space moved around him again and they were suddenly at a beautiful lake. _Come to think of it…Sloane said she doesn’t like water…_

“Will you teach me how to swim?” Sloane asked, looking up at Dierdre hopefully.

Dierdre looked back, confused. “You don’t know how yet?”

“Not well…Oma usually makes me wear this.” She held up a small life vest. “But the other kids make fun of me. I want to swim properly, and Elly’s mom taught her.”

Dierdre nodded slowly. “Alright…well, I’ve never tried to teach before. But I know there’s a way my mentor has me learn things.”

“What does mentor mean?”

“…teacher.”

“Oh! Okay, how?”

“By getting in and doing it.”

“…when you don’t know how?” she asked, confused.

“Learn by doing. That’s the best way.”

Sloane nodded and Nick felt a sudden cold lump in his stomach. She smiled brightly though. “Okay, mommy!”

Dierdre flinched a bit but smiled a bit. “Alright. So, don’t need this.” She put the life vest aside. “I’m going to toss you in and see how you do.”

“Okay!” She smiled, completely trusting, as Dierdre put her hands under her arms.

“No!” Nick shouted even as she picked her up and threw her into the water. He was ready to jump in after her but hit the deck instead when the world shifted again. Even though it wasn’t his physical body it still felt like the wind was knocked out of him. He sat up, looking around and saw Rebecca, soaking wet, cradling a waterlogged Sloane to her as she coughed. “What were you thinking?!” she asked.

“She said she wanted to learn how to swim!” Dierdre said. She was also wet he noticed.

“Yes, because she _doesn’t know how!_ You thought just tossing her in and she would magically figure it out?!”

“I didn’t think she was that clueless!”

“She’s a child!” Rebecca said almost desperately. “Dierdre, we taught you how to swim in the water with you, with a life-vest! Why did you think this would work!”

Dierdre glared back. “ _You_ didn’t teach me, papa taught me! You weren’t home!” she bit out. “I told you I didn’t know what I was doing, and you guilted me into going with her! How am I supposed to know what I’m doing!”

“Because she’s your daughter!” Rebecca said desperately.

“Well you treat her more like a daughter than you did me!”

“Didi—”

“Don’t call me that!” she shouted. She stood. “I am over thirty years old, I am a Grimm, I am feared throughout the world and I’m not going to let you make me feel like I’m a failure just because I don’t want to be Susy Homemaker and take care of a-a little runt that can’t even swim and sinks like a rock in the water!”

Rebecca looked at her in horror and Sloane curled up more against her grandmother, sniffing and tearing up at Dierdre. “…M’sorry…I’ll do better…” she said quietly, and Nick felt his heart break a little at the tiny voice.

Dierdre was quiet and Nick looked at her. Her face was fuzzy, hard to see, but…was that guilt? It couldn’t be. Rebecca shushed her gently and looked up at Dierdre. “Maybe it’s best you get what you need and go after all,” she said, her voice hard even as she blinked her eyes rapidly.

“…Agreed,” Dierdre said, turning to walk off.

“…Does she not like me?” Sloane asked.

“Shhh…she’s complicated, my sunshine,” Rebecca said gently. “One day she’ll get to know you…And I’m sure she’ll see the light.”

“…I don’t wanna swim anymore…” she said.

Rebecca’s lip quivered but she nodded and stood with her in her arms. “That’s fine. Maybe another day.” She patted her back and began humming as they walked, murmuring the worlds. “ _We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when…but I know we’ll be together some sunny day…”_

Nick sighed looking at the lake again. _Does she have any good memories of that woman?_ He blinked and suddenly he was looking at the woods from the porch.

“You’d be done by now, Sunny, if you came down earlier,” Rebecca’s voice said. He turned to see he was at the dining room window at the house now. Sloane was at the table, eating some cut up bits of sausage and veggies. She was older again, wearing a black sweater with bright, neon butterflies woven on it and a pair of jeans. Her hair was down, and Nick was surprised to see she had a tiny bit of white at the front, like her mother and grandmother, despite being so young.

“I was reading!” she pouted.

“You’re going to blow through all those books I got you at that fair in a weekend,” she smiled. It didn’t sound like she was upset, more that she was proud.

“Then you’ll get me more?” she asked innocently.

The woman laughed and kissed her forehead, making her wrinkle her nose but smile. “I’ll buy you a library!”

“Really?”

“One day.”

“You never say when that day is…” Sloane said, taking another bite of the sausage on her plate.

She smiled and turned to go back to washing the dishes. Nick had to smile a little. Then he heard something—a rustling in the in the woods nearby. Nick paused turned but the world beyond the house was out of focus. He could just barely make out shapes coming closer. _…Oh no…_

Nick looked back in and he saw Rebecca Larson was looking what felt like right at him, but she was more alerted to the movement outside. “You need to leave!” Nick said. She didn’t respond. “Hey! Listen to me!” He moved and gasped as he fell through the window. Pushing up, he looked to see his legs still lying through the wall. He moved them and they moved like the wall was just made of light. _I’m like a ghost?_

“…Sloane, come here.”

She looked up in confusion. “I just have a couple more bites—”

“Sloane, come here, _now!_ ” he ordered. Sloane looked shocked. It didn’t seem like Rebecca ever talked to her like that. She stood and quickly went over to her and they started for the basement door. Nick followed. Before she could unlock it though, there was a loud bang against the front door. It was hard enough it should’ve taken it off its hinges, but it was strong. A face appeared in the window, red eyes watching them.

Sloane didn’t scream, but she grabbed on tighter to her grandmother as they backed away around into the kitchen to hide from view. Another bang and her shaking. “O-Oma?” she whispered.

“It’s okay. You’re alright, dear, I’ve got you.”

“Is it the monsters?” Sloane whispered.

Rebecca was startled and looked down at her. “Monsters?”

“I saw one earlier…Elly’s uncle…he looked like a dog and then he chased me away…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered back.

Sloane flinched when another bang hit the door. “No one else saw! I thought it was bad I did!”

“Shhh, shh, it’s not bad…” She stood up straighter, her eyes following the sound of footsteps around the side of the house. “ _Verdammit!_ ” She looked around and her eyes fell to the side of the kitchen wall. She quickly rushed over, pushing at it and opening a panel. It was filled with hanging herbs and Nick recognized wolfsbane among them.

“Oma? What’s that?”

“Shhh,” she said again, pulling her over and then pushing her to crawl in. “Stay here, do not make a sound.”

“What? Oma—” She gasped and shuddered when another bang, now at the back door near the kitchen, echoed through the house. Nick looked at the door and then back at them, as Rebecca stroked her hair gently

“Stay. Here.”

“But what about you?” she whimpered.

“I’m going to try to get rid of our uninvited guests,” she smiled. “But no matter what, you stay in here till I get you or they’re gone. Promise me.”

“I…I promise…”

“Good girl,” she smiled, kissing her forehead again and then nudging her back. She closed the wall, then pulled a nearby rolling island over to it. She then grabbed a knife from a block on the counter just as the back door was kicked down. Things got fuzzy again, except for where Rebecca was standing. Nick looked and leaned down and saw that Sloane was peeking out from a crack in the door.

“Where’s your granddaughter?” Nick turned and swallowed. Five men had made their way inside. They shifted a bit in their hazy details, as though the world wasn’t sure exactly where they should be standing or what they looked like at that moment. But their leader was a big man with brown hair and broad shoulders.

“You don’t have to do this,” Rebecca said. “We’ve done nothing to you.”

“A Grimm, done nothing to us?” The man asked, his gravely voice dark and angry. “Your kind have hunted us for centuries and you have the nerve to say that?”

“We’re not hunting you! I’ve tried my best to bridge the gap between us. I want peace.”

“You expect me to believe that, holding that knife?”

“I want peace, but I’m not going to just let you break in and threaten me. Please, just leave and we can forget this ever happened.”

He laughed. “Oh, you’re serous! This is rich. The mighty hunter, pleading for her life.”

“Not mine. My granddaughter. She’s just a child! She doesn’t understand!”

“Then I’ll try to make things quick for her!” He woged into a blutbad and lunged. Nick moved without thinking, wanting to strike him. But he moved through him. He stood, terrified what he was about to see…but realized time was frozen. The blutbad was about to strike Rebecca but the knife was already in his shoulder, sending up a spray of blood that was suspended in the air like a frozen fountain. The other wesen were rushing forward and in various stages of transformation. It was fascinating and strange. He stood and tried to touch then but his hand still passed through.

Then he felt something cold at the back of his neck. “You don’t belong here.”

Nick took a breath and swallowed. “…I’m Nick Burkhardt…”

“And what are you doing in Sloane’s mind?”

Nick blinked at turned just slightly. He was shocked to see it was Rebecca speaking to him. The knife was still in her hands, with a little blood on it, and she was eyeing him suspiciously.

“…I’m trying to wake her up.”

She arche her brow before pulling the knife away. “You’re in the wrong part for that. This is her subconscious. Her memories. You need her conscious mind. This one is strong enough it pulled you in.”

Nick nodded slowly. “Okay, makes sense…how do I get there? And how are you talking to me?”

She smiled. “A lot of questions. I like you. All I can say is the mind is a strange place when you involve magic like this. And it’s not your mind, you don’t have any control. I can barely do anything, but I’ve been trying to wake her up too. The dream she’s in is very strong, and another part of her …well, doesn’t want to wake up. The signs I send keep getting covered up.”

“Wait, she wants to stay in the dream? Why?” Nick asked.

“She doesn’t know it’s a dream for one. This spell has given her a dream that feels like real life—her ideal real life. It’s hard to leave that behind…” she sighed. “The puppet master here doesn’t know about you yet though I think. So, I think I can sneak you in to where she is.”

“You can?” he asked hopefully.

“I’ve got a little leverage here, unlike you. The virtue of how I got here vs. how you got here.” Nick frowned but she was going on before he could ask what she meant. “I’ll get you there. But you’re going to have to essentially destroy the life that’s been built for her…it might mean hurting her.”

Nick frowned but then sighed. “If it means getting her back…”

She smiled. “Grimms always have the tough choices…Good luck then.” She gave him a push and Nick gasped when it felt like he was falling backward again.

\------------------

Hank finished some work at the station before standing from his desk. He was going to take a long lunch and go to the hospital to see how things were going. Wu was going to join him, so he waited a moment for him to join at the entrance. He was getting a little impatient even if it was only a couple of minutes, but finally he came jogging over. “Hey, sorry. I was chatting with some of the others about some cases.”

“And that distracted you from our friend having a spell put on him?” Hank asked, walking with him out to the car.

“Dude, this one is a bit nuts, even for us. Listen: Prostitutes are turning up dead. Throats slit.”

“Yeah, heard that yesterday from the captain.”

“No, here’s the other bit! The M.E.’s report said their uteruses…uteri? Well, they were removed with “surgical precision” for both girls.”

Hank stopped short, looking at him in shock. “Their uteruses?”

“Yeah. The kidneys too on one. And the killer might’ve been left-handed. Now I don’t know about you, but there was that special not to long ago I watched on—”

“Jack the Ripper,” Hank said dully. “I watched that too. But I mean…it couldn’t be.”

“Dude, like you said, we’re about to go watch our friend get a spell cast on him to go into the dreams of another friend to wake her up. Someone trying to be the next Jack the Ripper is kind of more normal.”

“Yeah…yeah, it’s probably some copycat killer,” Hank nodded. He then laughed at himself as they kept walking. “Man, I almost thought it _was_ Jack the Ripper.”

“It’ couldn’t be…could it?” They glanced at one another but then shook their heads and headed for the car.

Getting to the hospital, they headed up the third floor to Sloane’s room. There were no windows, so they opened the door to walk in. The first thing they saw was Nick lying in the other bed next to Sloane, connected by the silk scarves. Then Monroe and Rosalee sitting down near Sloane’s side. They were talking to…

“Oh shit!” Hank said. He’d left his gun behind at the station of course, but Adalind looked up and blanched when she saw him. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

“Hank, easy!” Rosalee said, standing and holding out her hands placatingly. “Adalind is the one that performed the spell.”

His jaw fell and he looked at them. “And you let her?!”

“I did it just how Henrietta would’ve done it,” Adalind said.

“And why didn’t she do it? That was the agreement,” he bit out, glaring at her.

“Henrietta was attacked,” Monroe said. “She’s recovering just down the hall actually. But she was in no condition to do this spell. And before you say anything, Adalind’s the one that kept her alive and got her help.”

Hank looked at her. “You did?”

She shrugged. “I managed…Healing magic is hard, but I got the bleeding to slow enough till the paramedics came. But her throat was slit so I had to do the spell, she can barely whisper…”

Wu held up a hand. “Hold up, her throat was slit?”

Adalind blinked and looked at him. “I…have we met?”

“Uh…briefly,” he said, awkwardly. “I’m Drew Wu, I work with Nick and Hank and Renard. And I’m in on the whole Grimm stuff too.”

“Oh, good,” she sighed. She looked at Hank again. “…I already apologized to Nick, but I should apologize to you too. For the whole…curse thing. I shouldn’t have put you in danger to get to Nick. Or at all, but…ugh, this is harder than I thought,” she sighed. “I mean in part because what I did was bad. Really bad. But I felt like it was the best thing to do at the time to do what Sean wanted…He’s changed too though,” she muttered.

“…I’ll think on that for now. But you should apologize to Wu too.”

“…What’d I do to you?” she asked hesitantly, not remembering.

“Uh, I took a cookie meant for Hank and then started eating anything and everything else. Including my carpet,” he said.

“Ohhh, yeah, it’ll do that if you’re not the intended target…I mean, you did take the cookie though…” Monroe and Rosalee frowned and she sighed. “But I’m sorry for that as well. Wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t do what I did in the first place.”

Wu nodded. “Okay…I mean I can’t speak for the others, but sure, apology accepted.”

“What?” they all asked, surprised.

Wu shrugged. “I mean, still doesn’t feel real for the most part to me because I didn’t see anything wrong at the time. I’m still alive, no lingering side-effects…Like I said, I can’t speak for Hank and Nick and anyone else, but I’m good.”

“Oh…Um…good,” Adalind nodded. She was surprised, but also relieved that someone said that. “I’m glad…”

“…You said Henrietta’s throat was slit?” Hank asked again.

She swallowed but nodded. “I was there, I’m staying with her. I came out just after it happened…”

“Did you see who did it?” he asked hopefully.

She shook her head. “No, I think he ran when he heard me…”

They sighed a bit, looking at one another before back at them. “We’re having a string of murders. Someone’s killing sex workers in the street by slitting their throats.”

“And then removing organs,” Wu added.

“Oh God,” Rosalee sighed, pulling at her face. “As if we don’t have enough on our plate…”

“Wait, this sounds familiar…this is like Jack the Ripper?” Monroe asked. “I watched that special the other month.”

“Us too!” Wu said.

“But it can’t be, right?” Hank asked. “Gotta be a copycat.”

“It can’t be the same guy either. I mean, Henrietta’s not a prostitute, and she was at home. The guy just walked right in…” she paused, frowning a little.

“What is it?”

“Uh…nothing…” she said.

“No, c’mon, you looked like you thought of something,” Rosalee said.

“…Sean came by earlier that evening. He seemed really upset.”

“The Captain?” Wu asked.

“Yeah. But I mean, I know he wouldn’t do this! He’s just the last person that came by that night and we forgot to lock the door.”

“Why was he there?” Hank asked.

“I heard him say he was still having some issues after being shot and Elizabeth bringing him back…”

Monroe and Rosalee looked at one another, frowning as well. “He came to us about that too,” Rosalee said. “We weren’t sure what it was…”

“We were going to check on him after this. But I have to stay here to make sure the spell keeps working right,” Adalind sighed.

Hank frowned and then pulled out his phone. Since they were in the room and no doctors were around he figured it wouldn’t hurt and pulled up Renard’s number. “I’ll give him a call, maybe he saw someone…”

“Nick said he couldn’t reach him earlier,” Monroe said.

They all frowned again but Hank pressed call and held it to his ear.

“Hello?”

He frowned at the voice on the phone—it was gruff, deep, and spoke with a British accent. “Who is this?”

“Well, you called me,” he said.

“Who is this? I'm looking for Sean Renard,” he said impatiently. The others looked at one another, not liking the conversation.

“You don't have 'im. But this is his phone.”

“Where is he?” he growled out.

“We're home. But I'm afraid he can't come to the phone right now. He's... resting. We had a bit of a rough night. This last one was a real fighter. We're quite fatigued, so if it's not a bother, call back at a more convenient time. Cheers.”

He hanged up and Hank looked at his phone in confusion. “…We need to get to the Captain’s house.”

“What?” Wu asked.

“Some British guy answered the phone, there is something really wrong!”

Adalind looked worried. “You don’t think this killer got him, do you?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll go check,” Wu said. “You keep doing whatever you’re doing here.” She nodded and the detectives quickly headed out. Adalind took a deep breath and looked at the link. The ring was glowing faintly as the spell and her power were weaving around it. She added a bit more power to it. The spell was a bit like tending a fire, you had to make sure it wasn’t burning too hot or going out.

“…Do you want something to eat or drink?” Rosalee asked.

Adalind looked up and nodded a little. “Yeah, if you don’t mind…Some coffee would be nice. I didn’t sleep after what happened to Henrietta…”

She nodded, looking at Monroe who was about to argue. He frowned but sighed and nodded and she left to get the coffee. “…So…”

“…We don’t need to make conversation if you don’t want,” she said, surprisingly gently.

“…That might be best,” He muttered.

It was awkward for a moment before there was a knock at the door. He thought maybe Rosalee had forgotten something and went to open it. He then froze. “O-oh…Juliette, what…?” Adalind stood immediately, eyes wide with panic.

\--------------------

Sloane opened her eyes and sighed at the sun streaming through her windows. She shifted a little and rubbing her cheek against the skin she was resting on. Looking up, she smiled when she saw she was resting on Nick’s bare chest. He was still asleep, looking peaceful. She reached up and softly traced down his nose, smiling when it wrinkled, and he huffed out and shifted a little. She then noticed the ring on her other hand and smiled more.

Nick then sighed and woke up, looking down at her and smiling. “Good morning…”

“Good morning,” she greeted back. Then paused. _Morning? When did we go to bed?_

“What does the birthday girl want for breakfast?” he asked, pulling her close and kissing her temple.

“…Is staying in bed an option?”

He grinned a bit kissed her again. “That’s doable…” She smiled as they started to kiss more. But then both their phones buzzed with the ringtone they use for work. Nick groaned and pulled back and grabbed his while Sloane grabbed hers to turn them off. “We really should’ve put in for today off…”

“We didn’t?”

“No, didn’t think it through that far…I just wanted to throw you off by doing it the day before.”

“Well played…” she smiled. They chuckled and got up to get ready to head to the station.

Renard was waiting for them when they arrived. “Larson, Burkhardt...Congratulations.”

“…I like that you’re playing it cool, like you weren’t there last night,” Sloane whispered.

Renard put a finger to his lips. “I have to remain somewhat professional as your boss. But I may have let it slip.”

Sloane tilted her head a little till he ushered them in and there was a big banner over their desks that read _Happy Birthday!_ And then a piece of computer paper with a very obvious Microsoft Word printed _And congrats!_ With clipart of diamond ring on it was taped under that. Everyone cheered and clapped, and they blushed but smiled as they came over to shake their hands.

“About time!”

“Oh, the ring is lovely! Good choice, Nick!”

“Can they technically be partners if their married?”

“Who cares!”

Nick and Sloane smiled through all of it before sitting down. The little paper sign fell as they did, fluttering onto her desk. They looked at one another over their computer screens and then broke into a fit of giggles.

“Oh, you two are going to be so much worse now,” Hank sighed.

“Worse?” Nick asked.

“The lovey-doveyness. It’s going to be like, maxed out, huh?”

“You weren’t before you were married?”

“Oh, no, I was. But I think you two are going to keep it up a lot longer. Probably forever,” he winked. Sloane blushed but then smiled again.

Meanwhile, the real Nick arrived in the unreal world. It was a strange feeling to get shoved through the layers of Sloane’s mind and into her dream. Even weirder was how it looked. The world was fuzzy and out of focus, things frozen around it. He was a bit concerned as he looked around until he saw things were in focus in the distance. He quickly walked that way and as he got closer things were moving and more in focus. _It’s like in a video game…only what she’s currently dreaming about is in focus and moving, everything else is like it’s waiting to load…_ And what she was currently dreaming about seemed to be the police station. The world seemed strangely grounded actually—no flying people or monsters or anything like that. It was…mundane, it felt.

“Hey, Burkhardt! Congrats!” One of his coworkers—Denver? Yeah, that was Denver—said, clapping him on the back.

 _Oh, they can see me here…Congratulations?_ “Uh, thanks!”

He smiled, then paused. “Wait…you should be inside already…” The hair on the back of his neck stood up when Denver’s eyes turned an eerie blue and he tilted his head, his voice going monotone. “Why aren’t you inside?”

“I…came out for some fresh air?” Nick tried.

“Liar…you do not belong here…” the others around him paused and turned to look at him, they’re eyes turning blue. Denver’s hands reached up and Nick quickly ducked out of the way and rushed inside. He had to duck and weave but managed to get to a hidden corner. He noted they looked around a bit but then seemed to relax and go back to what they should be doing. _What the hell was that?!_ He calmed himself down and sat back. _It’s like I’m a virus and they’re trying to get me…except they’re the virus in this case really. I gotta find Sloane and get her out of here, wake her up!_ Standing, he made his way quietly around the side toward the bullpen. He saw the back of Sloane’s head at the computer, Hank and…himself. _Oh, that is weird…_ He quickly ducked out of the way, unsure if the others would notice there being two of him. What would happen then? _Maybe I can just get her alone to talk…_

He looked around, trying to figure out how. It seemed like everyone was going through the motions, but he noted that the screens didn’t have any actual text on them. Neither did the files. This dream was just making it seem like her day to day job was still intact. _Is this what her dream is? To…keep things as they are?_

He sat thinking for a while before looking at her desk again. There was a cup of coffee at her side, precariously close to the edge. Looking around, he found a rubber band and box of paper clips. He set it up between his fingers and drew the paperclip back. _I may not be able to “control” things, but if they see me it means I can interact with things here…_ He let it fly after carefully aiming and hit the cup. It didn’t tip over, but Sloane didn’t notice it either. He quickly reloaded and tried again, ducking when he missed, and Hank blinked and looked around in confusion. He waited a few minutes before drying again and hitting the cup hard enough it tipped over.

“Ah!” Sloane yelped, trying to keep it from falling and ending up with coffee on her jacket. “Dammit!”

“You okay?” Other Nick asked quickly.

“Yeah, it was pretty cold,” she sighed. Real Nick blinked and looked up at the clock on the wall, shocked that half the day had passed. No one else seemed to bother him though, as if they didn’t realize it was strange he was there. _Adalind did say time might pass differently…_

“I’ll get some paper towels,” Hank said, standing.

“Thanks. I’m going to try and wash this out,” she sighed, standing to head to the women’s room. Real Nick watched her go to the door and waiting. She came out a few minutes later, blotting the wet spot on her sleeve. Biting his lip, he quickly made his move and quietly ran up behind her. Taking her shoulders, she gasped and looked up in surprise as he opened the door to the evidence room nearby. “Nick, what are you--?”

“Shhh!” He quickly pushed her inside, closing it behind him. He looked out the window and sighed. “Good, I don’t think anyone noticed…”

“What…Oh!” she laughed, and Nick jumped when she felt her arms go around him. “At work? Really?”

“Huh?” He turned, confused, and then felt his face flush at the smile she was giving him. Warm, sweet, radiant and not an expression he’d ever seen on her face before. “S-Sloane?” She smiled and moved her arms up to his neck, standing on her toes and pressing her lips against his. Nick’s eyes widened and he felt his pulse ratchet up a few beats per minute and the heat flush his face as if it were his own, real body. _Kissing…Sloane is kissing me? Kissing_ me _? Why?! What?!_ The best or worse part was it felt…good. This wasn’t a spell by a wesen, it was Sloane pouring her feelings into a kiss. He almost gave in but reminded himself quickly that this wasn’t right. _Juliette, remember, Juliette!_ She pulled back before he could do it, mainly because his brain was still short-circuiting, but giggled at him. And giggling was different too, but not unpleasant either.

“I like the initiative, but I’m not doing anything in evidence lock up, handsome,” she said, smiling teasingly.

“I…huh?” he asked, blushing up to his hair line it felt.

She smiled. “Playing innocent is cute, but it’s still no. But later at home, I’m more than happy to see what you have in mind.” She kissed his cheek and his hair should really be on fire now with how hot it was under his skin. “I know it’s my birthday but let me cook tonight, okay? I’ve got a recipe in mind.”

“I—wait, this isn’t—Sloane—” he said, trying to collect his thoughts.

She frowned and then lifted her hands to his face. She was looking at him with a sincere expression of worry, but also intimacy that made his stomach flip. “Nick? Is something wrong?”

“I…Um…N-No?”

“Okay…I’ll get back to work then.” She smiled and headed out the door again and Nick leaned against the wall. His fingers went to his lips and his mind was racing. _Sloane kissed me. She acted like we were together…why would she…? I-is it part of the dream? Why does she dream of that?_ He remembered then when, being so tired after performing the protection spell against Dierdre, Sloane said “I love you” to him. He’d taken it to be a friendly endearment, but what if she meant it as more than that? He’d never even thought…

He shook his head a bit. It was shocking and it was confusing, but it didn’t change what he came here to do. _I have to do something to wake her up…If I just talk to her I’m sure I can make her see what’s going on._ Nodding to himself, he quickly went out the door to find her. If someone tried to stop him again he could use it as proof or fightback—it’s not as though they were the actual people. _And even if some things aren’t…like they are here, it’s better for her to wake up!_

He was rounding the corner when he heard Sloane exclaim, “Oma!” He jerked to a stop and stared as Sloane went to meet an older woman with silver hair, hugging her tightly. “Aunt Mim, Aunt Jean, you’re all here!”

“Of course, we are,” the older Rebecca said with a happy laugh. “We wouldn’t miss this birthday.”

“And some other big news, hm?” Mim said, Jean bouncing with excitement.

Sloane smiled and pulled back and Nick quickly ducked behind a wall before she saw him. _Her grandmother is alive…that…that does seem like something she’d dream about…This is a world where she didn’t die…But she still ended up here in Portland? We’re that important?_ He peeked again and saw Sloane talking with a huge smile on her face to her grandmother and Aunts, the other him there now with his arm around her shoulders. He honestly had never seen Sloane so…effortlessly happy. Even though she’d lightened up living in Portland, there was often a reserved feeling to her. As if she tried her best to keep her cards close to her chest. But here, she didn’t have the cruel upbringing. She’d likely lived with her grandmother all those years she lived with Dierdre, raised with love instead of cold indifference. _This is her dream…No, I have to wake her up…_

“You shouldn’t be here.” He looked up and froze when there was a group of officers around him, all with those inhumanly blue eyes

“How can you know that?”

Each of them smiled the same smile, and it was honestly the creepiest smile he’d ever seen as it didn’t reach those eyes. “I put a bit of myself in this spell to make sure she stays asleep. I know the difference between the actors, or puppets, I made for her and an interloper.” Each one spoke a different part, in the same monotone voice. Nick gasped as they all grabbed him at once and began dragging him away.

“What the—What?! Dierdre did this, didn’t she?”

“Oh please, you thought Dierdre did this? That woman dislikes cooking if it has more than three ingredients.”

Nick was struggling, but the dozen or so hands on him kept pulling him along and grabbing him. “Th-then who are you? Why do this? It could kill her!”

“Dierdre paid me to. Simple as that.” They opened another door and Nick was brought around to see a rather than the supply closet that should be there, it was now a steep cliff at the edge of a mountain. He grabbed the frame before he could be pushed through. “Now now, don’t fight. It won’t kill you. It’ll just wake you up.”

Nick braced himself more as they all tried to push. “Not…without…SLOANE!!” He managed to kick back and send one flying, then pushed back and end up in a sprawling pile.

Sloane jumped and turned to look towards the other side of the station, beyond one of the walls. “What was that…?”

“What was what, dear?” Jean asked.

Sloane looked at the Nick next to her, who smiled in confusion. “I thought I heard…Never mind, must be my imagination.”

The real Nick meanwhile was running back through the halls while a small mob was chasing him. _Okay, so whoever did this is here, can control this place, and is trying to keep me from waking her up…didn’t expect that. I need to find a place to hide out and then get Sloane alone!_

\---------------------

Hank and Wu arrived at Renard’s house and searched the front perimeter first. They didn’t see anything amiss, so they tried the front door and found it was unlocked. That raised some eyebrows and concern, but they quickly went inside and began searching the house. Nothing seemed out of place aside from the back door being wide open. Wu nodded to it and Hank nodded to the stairs, so they split up. Hank went up stairs while Wu searched the backyard.

After checking the bathroom and a couple of other rooms, Hank found Renard, sleeping on his bed. He frowned but walked over, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Captain? Captain, you okay?”

Renard started awake and blinked at him in confusion before sitting up. “Hank? What the heck?” he asked groggily.

“Sir, are you okay?”

He looked down at himself, making sure his old wounds weren’t bleeding again before back up at Hank. “Yes? Why are you in my house?”

Wu came up then, sighing in relief when he saw the Renard. “Oh, good, he’s okay. No sign of anyone out back or downstairs.”

“Why would there be?” Renard asked, losing some patience.

“We called you, sir, and a strange man picked up the phone. One with a British accent.”

Renard blinked and then looked around. “Uh…my phone…It’s probably downstairs in the living room.” He stood and headed down with them following, picking it up. He went a little pale as he read through it. “…I have a missed call from Nick, and then apparently one from you that someone answered…” he said.

“Did you remember leaving your doors unlocked?” Wu asked.

“No, no I usually lock them,” he said. “Why were you trying to call me anyway? What’s happened?”

“A lot,” Hank sighed.

“Henrietta was attacked last night,” Wu said.

“What?” he gasped.

“She’s alive. But was almost killed. The guy that’s been walking around slitting women’s throats paid her a visit we think.”

“What? Why, she doesn’t fit the victim profile,” he said, shaking his head.

“We don’t know. It’s just a theory because slitting throats isn’t exactly popular nowadays,” Hank said.

“I-But I just saw her last night!”

“Adalind mentioned that. It’s part of why we wanted to check with you, find out if you saw anything.”

“No, I didn’t…wait, you met with Adalind?” he said, alert again.

“Yeah, she uh…is the one doing that dream spell on Nick and Sloane,” Wu said.

“…Nick agreed to that?” he asked, maybe the most shocked now.

“Nick didn’t have a lot of choice,” Hank sighed. “Look, the man answered your phone, let’s focus on that. You were alone here?”

“Yes, of course…I was just resting after last night, and no one else should’ve been here…”

“The man on the phone said “we” a lot. “We’re” home, “we” had a rough night…”

Renard looked greatly disturbed and sat down, shaking his head. “I was alone…I was alone since coming home last night, no one should’ve been here, and the doors should’ve been locked…”

Wu and Hank looked at one another. “Okay…we’ll figure out what’s going on, don’t worry.”

\----------------------

“…I came to see how Sloane is doing. Can I come in?” Juliette asked, eying Monroe.

“Uh, well…” He glanced back and motioned to Adalind quickly behind his back. Adalind gave him a look of _WTF do you want me to do?!_ Before quickly climbing under the bed Sloane was in. “…I mean…they’re kind of out of it…”

“What?” Juliette pushed him a little to look in and slowed when she saw the set up. “…So…the spell is working?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Who did it? I thought Henrietta wasn’t able to,” she asked, walking around it to look it over.

“Uh, a friend of hers came by to help. Since she’d already promised to do it she had her come.”

“I see…” she said. She looked at the ring and sighed a little. “Guess I should’ve known he’d do what he wanted…”

“Huh?” Monroe asked.

“Nothing…” She turned away then paused and walked over where the book was laid out. “Is this the spell?”

“Uh, yeah. She’d already made the powdery stuff, and then Ad-another Hexenbiest did the rest.”

“…I haven’t actually tried something like this before…Guess I missed the opportunity,” she said, looking it over and then flipping the pages a little.

“Uh, maybe we shouldn’t play around with that?” Monroe asked gently.

“It’s a book, Monroe, it’s not going to bite me,” she said breezily.

“No, but I mean…we might need something in on that page later.”

“I’m not taking the book, calm down,” she sighed. She noticed another spell on a later page and paused.

“I didn’t say you were but—”

“Hey, I’m back with the coffee,” Rosalee said, coming through door.

Juliette used the distraction to pull out her phone and put it behind her back. “Oh, good. The gang’s almost all here.”

Rosalee’s eyes widened and she froze. “O-Oh, Juliette…I didn’t know you’d be coming by.”

She quirked a brow while blindly bringing her camera app up. “Really? Because you have three coffees.”

“Ah, that’s…for um…”

“The Hexenbiest who helped us. But she had to go run another errand. She’ll be back later,” Monroe said quickly. His wife sighed in relief.

“Well, maybe I’ll stick around and meet her. A Hexenbiest you all actually trust must be special.” She let go of her phone, and it floated up slightly to record the page she’d turned to as a video.

“Juliette,” Rosalee sighed, setting the coffee down on the table near Nick. Glancing up, her eyes widened when she saw Adalind under Sloane’s bed. She put a finger to her lips, looking worried as she tried to keep from being seen.

“What? Am I being too dramatic?”

“No, no, it’s not that,” Monroe said, wincing. “I just…we’re all worried and on edge. With Dierdre and her attack here, and what she did to Sloane, and she stole the trailer—”

“She stole the trailer?” Juliette asked. She got her phone back into her hand and ended the recording.

“Yeah…and now he’s gone all _Inception_ into Sloane’s dreams and we’re just worried.”

“It’s been a hectic few days,” Rosalee sighed.

“Yeah…worried enough to ask me for help too.”

“…We thought you would want to,” she said, not quite looking at her.

“Maybe…but maybe I was a little angry that you all treated this like it was such a huge, awful thing until you _needed_ someone to do a spell.”

“That’s…fair,” he nodded, awkward. “Said so to Nick too…”

“It’s more than fair. None of you listen to me. You all assume the worst, that I have to be a monster now. None of you think I’m in control or making the right choice!” she said, becoming angrier.

“Hey, I am all about a woman’s right to choose—that’s going on a different topic, hold on,” he started, then fumbled awkwardly. Rosalee smiled a little. “Look, we’re realizing not all Hexenbiests are evil. But after everything we’ve dealt with, can you blame us for being a bit…nervous when we first found out?”

“Yes. I can. Because it’s still me. Just more confident now.”

“Juliette, is it confidence or is it a power rush?” Rosalee asked, more serious now.

“Yeah, we get that too when we woge—feeling like I’m invincible. But we’re not, and neither are you. Power isn’t everything—”

“Yeah, see, that’s what people without power say,” she cut him off. “Because they want to feel safer and better about themselves. That’s what I told myself when I found out what a Grimm is, and realized that I had to be very wily and lucky to stay with Nick. And even then there could be a time my luck ran out and I’d be backed into a corner…”

“We’d protect you,” Rosalee said.

She laughed and they flinched at how harsh it sounded. “You weren’t there when that bounty hunter was at the house. Neither was Nick or anyone else. I’d be dead now if I wasn’t a Hexenbiest, more than once actually.”

“We’re…glad you could defend yourself then,” Rosalee said. “But since then it just feels like you’re pulling away.”

“He pulled away first!” Juliette snapped, making them both jump.

“Didn’t…you start pulling away when you found out?” Rosalee asked.

Juliette narrowed her eyes. “…A bit. I mean, I was a bit worried what his reaction would be. And I was right, wasn’t I? Because if I’m not some damsel who has to be protected and a prize for Nick at the end, I’m not worth anything.”

“That’s not what we said, and you know it,” Monroe snapped. “Look, you can’t expect us to just be okay with this!”

“I can. Because I thought you were all my friends too. But I guess it’s obvious where your loyalties lie.” She looked over at the beds. “And I guess where Nick’s lie too…”

“What do you mean?” Rosalee asked.

She walked over slowly, eying the connection between them. Rosalee tensed but Adalind was curled up under the bed enough she wasn’t noticeable. “Nick was willing to look past needing a hexenbiest for Sloane…”

“…Because she’s his friend too,” Monroe said. “He asked for help from Renard’s mother when he lost his powers.”

“Yes, and that went so well for us,” she sneered. “But I have to wonder, is that all? They looked pretty happy at that dance competition…I don’t think I’d have gotten him to do something like that” she said.

“I-what? Juliette, I know you’re insinuating anything like…Nick loves you!” Rosalee said.

“And that’s never stopped someone before?” she asked dryly.

“Wait, she thinks Nick and Sloane…?” Monroe asked, clearly not having thought that at all.

“It’s not like that,” Rosalee said again. “Spells and wesen charms aside, Nick isn’t the kind of man to cheat on anyone. And as far as he’s still concerned, you and he are still in love.”

“Well maybe that’s what he thinks,” She bit out. “But if that was true, he sure as hell was ready to us _this_ for another woman.” She flicked the ring and there was a flash as the spell seemed to shake around them, almost like shards of glass cracking in the air before fading from their shocked audience’s view.

“Don’t do that!”

Juliette had been surprised by the reaction, but expression at the voice she heard made Monroe’s blood freeze. “No…No, he wouldn’t have…” she muttered.

Adalind sighed and climbed out from under the bed to stand between them, in front of Juliette, with spell binding between them. “…Hello, Juliette.”

“You,” she spit out. “You dare show up here—”

“Juliette, calm down,” Rosalee said, going to put a calming hand on her shoulder, then gasped as she was rebuffed with a bit of power. Not enough to send her flying but it made her shout and back up. Monroe quickly pulled her away.

“You want me to be calm with this-this underhanded _slut_ here.”

“Excuse you?” Adalind said. She then paused and took a breath. “Look, I…am sorry. For what I did. I made a mistake—”

“You’re mistake was coming here and thinking you’d leave in once piece!” Juliette said, raising a hand.

“Wait!” Adalind held up her own. “You can’t disturb the spell! If you do, Nick and this woman could end up vegetables or trapped in one mind together or who knows what else!”

“You expect me to believe you!?” she snarled.

“I’m not lying,” Adalind said, a touch desperate. “I’m trying to help! To make up for what I’ve done!”

“Nothing is going to make up for that!”

“…Maybe so, but I’m going to try,” she said, determined.

Juliette frowned, thrown a moment by the sincerity there. Then she glared. “Make it up to me by dropping dead!” She moved to dear the spell down to get to her, making that glass like effect in the air again, and Adalind threw up her hands to push her back.

“I said don’t!”

“Juliette!” Rosalee shouted, making her look at her. “I get you hate her, but she is helping! She’s the only help we have right now because you didn’t want to come!”

She glared at her and Monroe pulled her back. “You want to blame me?”

“No! I’m just saying…”

“No, I get it. I don’t come running and I’m selfish.” She walked over to Nick’s bedside. “I don’t like Nick being so close with other girls, I’m just crazy and jealous.”

“That’s not—”

“I don’t like my friends acting like I’m a problem that needs to be fixed— _until_ , they need me that is—and that’s just me being power hungry?” she reached up and took a bit of Nick’s hair in her fingers. “Maybe I want Nick’s opinion on this.”

“Juliette!” Monroe warned.

She pulled and the hair came out and they all held their breath. But Nick remained asleep. She glared. “Well, guess he’s having fun where he is…Or maybe you did something?” she eyed Adalind.

“I didn’t! The spell is just how Henrietta did it, but the sleep is magical. Something has to wake him up in the dream,” she said, looking at Monroe and Rosalee to be sure they knew she was telling the truth.

They nodded, looking at Juliette with more trepidation. ““Juliette, please, just…calm down,” Rosalee said, trying to keep her tone gentle. “We can work this out later, but right now Nick and Sloane are depending on her and if you disrupt the spell we’ll…we’ll fight you back and call the doctors in here if we have to.”

She looked at them, then looked at Adalind. “…Fine. Good luck then.” She turned and headed out the door and Rosalee let out the breath she was holding.

Adalind breathed out as well and looked over the connection quickly.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yes and no…I don’t think they’ll get stuck together, but it might make both spells a little unstable…”

“Is that bad?” Monroe asked.

“I don’t know! It’s like crossing wires—it could short, it could still work, or it could catch on fire. I’m trying to avoid the last one.”

“Yes, keep doing that,” he said.

Rosalee sighed and handed her the cup of coffee she brought. “Here…we might have to stay alert for a while…” Adalind smiled and took it, thinking the same thing. She was still shaking and Rosalee put a hand on her shoulder gently. “You’re okay…”

“She wants me dead. And she’s willing to do it, you saw.”

“Yeah…that’s what worries me,” she sighed.

“…I might…know away to suppress her powers.”

Rosalee looked up quickly. “You do?”

“I _might_ ,” she stressed. “It’s going to be almost as involved as this spell…and considerably darker.”

“Well, she’s getting considerably darker so it might be best to do it…” Monroe sighed.

“We’ll have to wait till this is over though,” she gestured and Nick and Sloane.

“Hopefully that’s soon…” Rosalee said.

\-----------------------

As Nick was trying to figure out how to get out of the station, there was what felt like an earthquake. The world around them flickered like TV static, buildings nearly falling but quickly rebuilding themselves again, details shifting and changing like they weren’t sure where they went—flowers going from roses to daffodils, paint going through blue, green, back to tan, people switching positions or features as they walked down the street, etc. The officers after him suddenly froze as if the system was rebooting and then seemed to forget about him and walk away. He breathed out and quickly made his way out of the station, sticking to the backways and away from the “people” around him to get across the street. He winced when he felt a sharp pain in his scalp and felt the area, but nothing seemed out of place.

Sloane meanwhile gasped as the room shook. “W…what was that?” she asked.

“What was what?” Mim asked.

“That shaking!”

“What shaking? Are you alright, honey?” Jean asked.

“I…you didn’t feel that?” she asked, confused.

“Maybe you should sit…”

“I…n-no, I’m fine,” she said. She could swear she felt like the world was shaking a moment ago…She looked around, frowning when she saw someone was missing. “Oma?”

“Right here,” she smiled, stepping back into he room. “I went to go ask if you could have the afternoon off.”

“What? You didn’t have to do that,” she said.

“Oh, but your captain was so nice! He said he could spare you for an afternoon…but not both of you.” She looked at Nick apologetically.

He seemed to pause a moment but smiled. “That’s fine, really. I get to spend a lot more time with her than you all do.”

“I knew you’d understand,” she smiled. “I was thinking we could have some lunch, do a little shopping, etc.”

“That does sound nice…I can get some things to fix dinner too.” She smiled at Nick. “I was serious when I said I wanted to cook.”

Nick blinked, looking confused, but smiled all the same. “If you’re sure, I’m more than happy to let you cook.”

She smiled and Rebecca put her hands on her shoulders as she led her to the door. From there, they started walking to a café for lunch.

“So, how have you been?” Oma asked.

“How’ve I been? We talk almost every day in some form, Oma,” she laughed.

“Humor me.”

Sloane chuckled and started talking about this and that as they walked together, Mim and Jean joining in as they did. Rebecca asked questions about her friends, about Nick, about things in general and though Sloane knew she should already know this, she enjoyed talking through the walks and lunch and shopping.

“Should we look at wedding dresses?” Jean asked, eying a boutique nearby.

“It’s been less than a day, hon, let the girl adjust a little more,” Mim said.

“…Mine is probably still in the attic,” Rebecca murmured.

“What?” Sloane asked.

“Oh, just thinking that mine is probably still in the attic at the house. I…haven’t looked in a while.”

“Your wedding dress? What’s it like?”

“Oh, it was all the rage back in the forties,” she laughed. “It came to about here on my shins. Ivory and lace, a nice little swing skirt…It was a small ceremony because your father’s parents were…”

“Bigots.” She didn’t mince words, she knew.

“Well…yes,” she sighed. “But I loved the dress all the same. I saved a…a designer, during the war, and he made it for me as a thank you. We married in the woods with our friends, then danced the night away at the lake house.”

“That’s sounds romantic…” Sloane said. She remembered the story for the journals…why did she read her grandmother’s journals?

“Yes. When I was younger, I’d wanted to wear your grandmother’s dress though, from the twenties. It was a beautiful drapey, almost Grecian looking dress. I always thought she looked beautiful in photos…but the dress and the photos were burned in the bombing,” she sighed.

“…I didn’t know that. I’m sorry, Oma.”

Rebecca smiled and hugged her. “It’s alright, sunshine. Just remember, keep what’s really important safe.” Sloane nodded, smiling more.

Mim and Jean were looking at Rebecca curiously before looking at a clock. “Oh, Sloane, you wanted to make Dinner for Nick, didn’t you?”

“Oh! Yeah, I should hit the store real quick. I’m going to try your rib roast recipe,” Sloane said, smiling.

“Well, you’ll need plenty of time for that. Go on, we’ll visit later,” she smiled, kissing her forehead. Sloane smiled and headed back to get her car.

“…You don’t belong here,” Jean said, her voice that monotone and both she and Mim having unearthly blue eyes.

“…You know…I try to be a very good person, even now…but there are things I cannot forgive.” She turned and the two women backed up. “You’re going to tell me everything you know about what _Dierdre_ has done. I don’t care if you’re a fragment of the real culprit. I’ll make you tell me.”

Nick meanwhile was hiding across the street and watch Sloane leave. The world literally came more alive around her, as if they were waiting for her to start being alive and seem natural. _This spell is trying to make it seem like real life, but it can’t keep everything going at once…_ He looked at the police station and slowly walked forward. Inside it was like a wax museum—everyone was frozen in place, their eyes glassy, their poses stiff. It was creepy, especially given he knew these people so well. Hank and Him were frozen by their desks as if talking. That was even more strange, staring at himself. He waved a hand in front of the other-him’s eyes, ready for a fight. But he didn’t even flinch. “Freaky…I don’t know if this will work but…” He reached into his desk and pulled out his cuffs, cuffing his double to the desk by the wrist. “I need you to stay here for a bit.”

He then turned and headed out. _Okay, gotta get to Sloane…_ As he stepped out into the world, he was shocked to find it was already nearly sunset. “What? When…?”

“Time is a bit strange here.” Nick jumped and looked to his side to see Rebecca waiting for him.

“You…aren’t you one of them?”

“No,” she chuckled. “I switched places with the one this spell made. I spent a lovely afternoon with Sloane. Lunch, shopping, talking…things I never got to do with this older Sloane. It felt like hours to me, longer than it should’ve been and then she said she’d be heading home. I came back to find you.”

“I was only in there a couple of minutes…” he said.

“I think the time is focusing on her too, like the rest of this world…” She looked up at him. “You need to wake her up soon though. That shaking earlier isn’t a good sign I’m sure.”

“R-right…Where?”

“Her house. Well, here it’s your house too…” Nick blushed, and Rebecca tilted her head before smiling sadly. “You’re not together…”

“N-No! I mean, I had no idea she even…felt that way,” he said, blushing.

“I see…and you never thought about her that way?”

“No…” he said, honestly.

She nodded slowly and sighed. “Then I’m afraid you may have to break her heart for this…”

Nick was quiet, then looked at her. “Why…do you talk like you’re an outsider? I thought…”

She smiled and then put a hand on his shoulder, and it was like the world sped by under their feet till they were outside of Sloane’s house. Nick was shocked, looking around and then back at her. “It’s a bit complicated, but I manage to figure a few things out…go help her figure things out too.”

Nick nodded slowly and turned. He swallowed and took a deep breath before walking to the door. It was unlocked when he tried it and he stepped inside. He heard the sound of cooking and looked to the left to the kitchen. Sloane was moving around, cutting things up and following a recipe as she went. She was dressed in a nice black dress with a green apron over the front, the table was already nicely set with candles, and she was dancing just slightly. She looked happy. Nick felt guilt boil up in his stomach, but he took a breath as he started towards her. “Sloane?”

She paused and looked up before smiling. “Hey! You’re home early. I’m almost done though, I just gotta finish up this salad. I’m making Oma’s rib roast; I know you’ll love—”

“Sloane!” She jumped and looked at him, eyes wide. “I…we need to talk.”

She blinked but nodded. “Okay…” She wiped her hands down the front of her apron and took it off, hanging it up on a peg. Nick gestured at the dining table and she walked over and sat down in a chair. Nick didn’t sit, instead pacing slightly. She frowned, watching him. “Nick, what’s wrong?”

He paused and looked at her before taking another breath. “…You and I…we’re together here?”

She smiled in confusion. “Yyyyes? I mean, this is our house. Our bedroom is over there.”

“How long?”

“What?”

“How long have we been together?”

“…We’ve been together since a couple of years ago—”

“Exactly how long,” he pressed.

“I…um…Four years, I came here four years ago—”

“I’ve only known you two years. You’ve only been in Portland for two years.”

“What?” She laughed.

“You came to Portland two years ago on a hunt.”

“A hunt? I…I don’t hunt,” she said, shaking her head.

“…A hunt for wesen,” he clarified. “A Wolkenkratzer.”

Sloane looked like she was trying to remember something and winced, rubbing over her forehead. “I…what?”

“You…don’t remember being a Grimm?” he asked, honestly surprised.

“Grimm…I…No,” she shook her head. “Nick what are you talking about?”

“Sloane, you’re a Grimm!” Nick said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I am too. We…we see things others don’t. Wesen. How some people have a-a different form.”

“What…?” She flinched, rubbing over her forehead. “You…you’re not making any sense…”

“You’re under a curse! None of this is real! You’re in a dream…”

Sloane stared before shaking her head again, putting her hands on his. “No…no, that’s not possible. That’s crazy! Nick why are you saying this?” her voice cracked as she spoke, shaking a little.

Nick grimaced and then squeezed her shoulders. “…We aren’t together, Sloane…not in the real world.”

“…What?” she asked, face falling.

He looked her hard in the eyes, even as he tried to find the words. “I don’t…I’m not _in_ love with you. You’re my friend.”

“Nick—”

“I love Juliette,” he said, a bit more forcefully than he intended.

Sloane’s eyes widened a lot of color seemed to drain out of her. “…You…what?”

“I love Juliette,” he said, honestly even though it hurt to see as she slowly deflated in shock and grief. “I…I’m sorry…”

“But…” she put her right hand over her left, hiding the ring, her mind racing.

“Sloane, don’t listen to him!” They both jumped and she was out of her chair. The other Nick was in the archway to the hall. Neither had seen or heard him come in and really, he couldn’t have from that direction. He just appeared. “He’s lying!”

“What the hell?” she gasped, looking between them.

“Sloane, he’s not real,” Nick said quickly.

“No, he’s the fake! He’s trying to confuse you!” he moved towards them and Nick got between them.

“Stop it! Sloane, I know it’s not what you want to hear, but you have to wake up! If you don’t, you could die! Adalind used a spell so I could get to you!”

Sloane was looking between them, confused. “I, who-what?”

“Sloane!” They said at once and she backed away, looking frightened.

“I don’t understand…I thought…” She grunted, holding her head as it felt like it was going to split. The world began shaking a bit.

“Oh no, not yet,” the other Nick said, eyes turning blue. The world around them was suddenly dark, like a blackness that that felt like the world fell away.

“Sloane?!” Nick said.

“Nick!” She looked around, trying to find him in the dark. Then the world lit up again.

\-------------------------

Juliette should’ve felt more guilt for breaking the Spice Shop’s window. But she didn’t. She didn’t even use magic, just an old rod from a nearby dumpster. Unlocking the back door, she stepped through and pulled up the video she took of the book, pausing it on a clean shot. She started going around, pulling some ingredients down. She rummaged through Rosalee’s tools until she finally found what she needed: a large but shallow bowl made out of glass. She set it down in the back room, confident Monroe and Rosalee wouldn’t be back anytime soon. Looking over the picture on her phone, she started adding in the ingredients. She growled when she messed up once and dumped it out before starting again. The last thing she added to the pile was the bit of hair she’d taken from Nick.

Once the herbs were measured out, she filled a pitcher with water. She looked at the instructions again and took a breath before she woged and began pouring the water in. “Falling water, as you dance, give me now the secret glance. As you settle and you steep, look to the one who is fast asleep. Visions that were once hidden to me, reflect his dreams that I may see.”

She watched as the herbs clouded over and turned red as she poured the water in. As they settled though, the water looked almost like liquid mercury in how shiny it was, before clouding over again and showing her a vision of Nick in the woods. She realized she couldn’t hear anything and clicked her tongue but could tell he was calling for Sloane and running through the woods.

\-------------------------

Sloane cleared her eyes after the sudden shift from the darkness. Blinking, she saw she was now in the woods, and was dressed in her normal clothes.

“Sloane!” She looked up and saw Rosalee, Monroe, Nick and the others ahead of her, on a wooded path. “C’mon, we gotta get going! They’re getting away!”

“Who? What?”

“The killer! We need to find out what wesen they are!”

“Wesen…” She grunted as it felt like a flood of memories came back to her. Of books, and wesen, and training and fighting and hunting. _I…what is going on?_ “Right…I’m a Grimm…but why…”

“You don’t need to ask questions,” Nick said.

She frowned. “I…think I do. What are we hunting again?”

“We don’t know,” Rosalee said.

“We should have some idea. What did it do?”

They all paused and looked at one another, they’re eyes turning blue. “…Burning.”

“Like and Excandesco? A damonfeur? We should be able to figure that out. Did we go to the trailer? My house?”

“Ugh, why are you making this so hard,” Hank asked, his eyes still blue. “We have to come up with a whole damn plot for you? Use your imagination!”

“…Like this?”

They gasped when an Excandesco appeared in the middle of them, on fire. “Sloane!” Rosalee shouted. She gasped and quickly held up a hand and he disappeared again.

“…It really is a dream…” she muttered.

“Of course, it is,” Hank sighed. “Guess I should’ve known Dierdre’s daughter would figure that out and how to control it…”

“Why…why though? Why did she do this?” Even though she was already feeling betrayed by everything that woman had done, this hurt on another level. “Why does she want to trap me in a goddamn dream?!”

“I don’t know,” Nick said, holding up his hands and dropping them. “Why does she do anything? To be stronger. Maybe she saw you as a threat. Maybe this was the nicest way she had to get rid of you. But I mean hell, even in your perfect world, you couldn’t imagine her there, being nice to you, could you?”

Sloane didn’t answer but knew it was true. She couldn’t imagine Dierdre being warm and loving. She could hardly imagine her smile when it didn’t involve a hunt. “…Who are you?”

“I’m a lot of things, honey,” Rosalee said, those eerie blue eyes looking her over. “You can call me Morgan, I suppose. But that’s all your getting.”

“You have a face with a name?”

She smiled, and it was much too predatory for Rosalee’s face. “Of course. But you don’t need to see it.”

“You don’t need to see anything you don’t actually want to. We can erase all those bad memories. We can make it so you never have to be scared again. Or alone,” Hank went on.

“What…?” she asked, confusion and trepidation growing.

“We tried to give you a perfect world,” Rosalee said. “But you started trying to remember.”

“So now we’re here,” Nick said. “We’re hunting again. Putting ourselves in danger…” She blinked and then gasped, backing away when suddenly they were all dead, in bloody heaps on the ground. “Things go wrong on hunts though,” his voice echoed.

“No…no no no…” she whispered, feeling her legs shake as she saw their dead eyes staring at her. She then froze and looked at her hands, which were covered in blood.

 _“Assuming you didn’t do it yourself,”_ they all said.

“No!” Sloane screamed, her mind going wild. An arm them came around her and pulled her close, the other hand coming up to cover her eyes.

“It’s not real!” Nick yelled, having found her after crashing around the woods. He had trouble looking at the scene as well but focused on keeping her close.

_“You can go back to that beautiful dream, Sloane…just relax and go back.”_

“No, Sloane, you have to wake up!” Nick said, squeezing her.

_“He doesn’t love you, Sloane. We can make him love you. You’ll have a real life. You’ll be happy here. No more fighting, no more death…”_

“It’s not real,” Nick said again, softer. “I’m sorry…but it’s not real. Don’t listen to them.”

“…I knew…”

Nick froze a bit and then looked at her. “What?” They gasped when the world went dark again. Nick felt invisible hands grab him and pull him away. “Sloane!”

“Nick?” She turned, but she was faced with a door. “Nick, where are you?!”

“I’m right here.” She turned and blinked in confusion. Nick was in front of her, but he was dressed in a military uniform. An old Military uniform, from the 1940s. Behind him was what looked like a party, and everyone was dressed as though it was the end of WII. She was confused then looked down to see she was in a green A-Line dress that went to her knees. Her hair was styled more into a Victory roll style—the kind she’d seen in old photos of her grandmother.

“What the hell?” she said, feeling over a longer lock of hair. It was not that long a second ago.

“C’mon, don’t I get a dance with my girl?” Nick said

She looked around, seeing the others also dressed like it was the 40s. The men in suits and waist coats with ties, the girls in similar A-Line dresses in different colors and prints, with their hair done up. But they were standing like mannequins, watching them. This wasn’t right. “W…what is going on?”

“You wanted to feel like how your grandmother felt in her diaries, didn’t you? You want to live that kind of life? Adventurous and sweet at the same time? Loved? Not alone?” he asked, taking her hand. The band started to play _Some Sunny Day_ and he tugged on her hand again to tug her to the dance floor. She hesitated but he pulled her in close, swaying with her in his arms. It wasn’t like how they danced before, grand and showy. It was close, intimate, and just as passionate with the smallest of moves. “We can do anything here, Sloane. Any fantasy, any life you want is yours. And we can change it any time. You can live a hundred different lives, all of them how you want without any of the bad. If you don’t want Nick anymore, I could bring back someone else…” He changed suddenly into a woman—she was Japanese, with beautiful dark eyes and a heart shaped face. “Someone you miss?”

“…Here I thought you’d try Collin,” she said, her mouth feeling dry and her heart a little pinched.

“I know better than to bring up the painful parts of your past…”

“You say that wearing that face…” she said, squeezing the shoulder almost painfully.

“Right…” They changed back into Nick on another turn around the room. He pressed his thumb to the ring on her hand. “You really want to give this up though?”

She hesitated, feeling that fuzzy feeling trying to push into her mind. “Stop it…”

“Sloane, please,” he said, looking more pleading. The door opened again, and Nick managed to push his way through, shutting it on the hands trying to drag him away at him. He looked confused at the change in scenery a moment, but Sloane looked at him and then back at the other Nick.

“I knew something was wrong from the start…” she said quietly.

“That’s impossible, this spell is perfect,” he said. This creator’s pride was leaking back through.

“Maybe…but there was a part of me that knew no matter how much I wanted it to be real, it wasn’t…That you...he wasn't in love with me. How could he be? ” she said. He frowned more as started slowly disappearing as if made of dust.

“Sloane?” the real Nick asked. She winced at his voice but turned to him.

“I…love you, Nick. I really do. I’m not sure when it happened exactly, but I realized it a while ago…”

“…I had no idea…” he said honestly.

“Of course, that was obvious. Even dancing,” she said, laughing a little through the tightness in her chest. “…Screw it…It’s already out there…” She turned to him and smiled. “I am…so, so glad we met. Meeting you is when I started to really live.”

“Sloane— “

“Let me finish!” she ordered, shutting him up. She took a shuddering breath and continued. “You ask if I want more? I know I do. But you’ve already given me so much. When things were hard and confusing, you were there to show me that struggling with what we do isn’t a bad thing. That there can be more than one answer. That having a life outside of what we are is possible. Before I knew it, I was always aware of you. I’d look to you for your opinions and insights. It made me feel happy when I could help you. It even made me happy sharing your frustrations. I enjoyed talking about anything with you. I wanted to make you laugh when things got rough. Make things better and carry that burden with you. I was proud of the moments you were strong, scared when you were in danger…Even when I was angry with you, I felt bad for it because I didn’t want that. Trying to stay mad at you before was because I wanted to stop feeling what I did, but staying away from you was hard…Working together with you made me want to work even harder at being not just a Grimm, but a better person…I mean, Rosalee and Monroe and Hank and everyone do to, but I think yours is the example I started trying to follow. Ironic, huh, considering how we started out? Always calling you bleeding heart..." She set a hand over where the knife had gone in and he flinched. But she smiled. "So…thank you for making me the person I am today.”

Nick’s eyes were wide, and he felt something in his chest knot up into a lump that made it hard to breathe. “Sloane…”

“I know,” she said again. “I know you still love Juliette…That’s okay. I told myself already you aren’t mine. I just wanted to…not feel this deeply before you ever found out…”

Nick swallowed but walked up and wrapped his arms around her. “I…I’m sorry…”

Sloane’s hands tightened and she leaned her head into his chest. “I know…because you’re so damn good…” she said quietly, with equal warmth and frustration. She reached up and put a hand on his chest. “It was nice to pretend for a little while though…” She looked up and leaned in to give him a quick kiss. Nick was surprised but closed his eyes and kissed back softly.

\--------------------------

Juliette grabbed the bowl and threw it against the wall as she saw the kiss. Watching the liquid turn back to water and herbs, it boiled slightly in her rage as it dripped to the shattered glass below. She panted, digging her nails into the table as she felt rage over come her. Jars shook around her, and she paused and took a deep breath. Wrecking the shop was tempting, but more broken glass everywhere wasn’t going to help her. Looking at her phone she grabbed it and pulled up her recent calls and redialed the most recent.

“Juliette?” Kenneth asked.

“…I’m ready to discuss working together,” she said.

“…Wonderful,” he smiled. “Can you meet at the hotel?”

“I’m on my way,” she said, heading for the door. She didn’t bother cleaning or locking up as she stalked down the street. _If he’s ready to move on, so am I…But I’ll make sure he never forgets me._

\-----------------

Sloane pulled back just as quickly, looking a bit shamefaced at the sudden kiss but trying to smile. “Thank you…And sorry…”

“Y-you don’t have to apologize …”

“I do…because I don’t…want you to see me like this…even in a dream. So, you have to wake up first,” she said, tears coming to her eyes. She pushed him suddenly and Nick gasped as the ground gave away under him and he was falling.

Sloane closed the hole up again and she wiped at her eyes as she started crying in earnest. She could feel the ring on her finger disappear into dust like the other fake Nick. “Dammit…dammit…so stupid…”

“Are you that surprised?”

Sloane winced at the voice. She didn’t need to look to see Dierdre behind her. “Stop…”

“You stupid girl,” she said. “Did you really think you’d get some sort of happy ending? You’re a Grimm! There is no happy ending for us!”

“Stop it,” she muttered again, trying to wipe at the tears more. The words had been spoken to her before in the past, after a boy had done nothing but give her a flower on valentines. But it’d just been a joke, giving the “weird girl” a gift. She’d been 12 and it had still hurt but telling Dierdre had only made things worse. The tears were running down her cheeks in a steady stream, but she could see black water forming around her feet, rising up. She couldn’t move. She was frozen, paralyzed. It felt like dozens of hands were holding her to the ground, still trying to keep her there. _I need…I need to wake up…_

“You’re a weak, stupid girl!” The water was rising to her waist. The juke box playing music fizzled and it stopped, and she was left with the silence and Diedre’s voice echoing in the now empty room as it moved up to her chin. “Love isn’t something to want, I told you this over, and over, and over! If you want to live in dreams, you should just _stay here._ ”

“That’s enough!” Sloane fell forward onto her knees at the voice and the feeling of pressure around her that blew the water and Diedre away. Looking up, she saw her Grandmother in front of her now. She looked at her sadly. “Oh Sloane…You’re not stupid, you never were…”

“…Y-you’re not real…” she said, shaking her head. “You’re here because I want you here and the dream brought you to…to try and keep me here.”

“…In dreams, the veil between worlds is very thin, Sunny,” she said gently, reaching up to wipe at her face with gentle, familiar hands. Sloane blinked, looking at her in confusion. “Diedre wasn’t really here…that’s how she is in your mind. And I’m sorry she was never the mother you needed…I wish I’d been there for you. Seen you grow…Well, I guess I still get to comfort you after your first broken heart…well, not first maybe…” she said gently. Sloane looked at her, uncertain, but her arms went around her slowly and suddenly she was a child again, in her grandmother’s arms. Small, weak, but protected. Rebecca hugged her close and rocked her gently. “You’ll need to wake up soon…but just a moment longer…give me just a moment, because I missed you too…” she said. She hummed the rest of _Some Sunny Day,_ just like she did when she was young and the feeling around her was too much like then to be something she conjured up on her own. She closed her eyes, leaning into her as the world turned white.

\---------------------

Nick woke with a start, gasping after falling through the gap in the dream. The ring broke like it was made of chalk, severing the connection between them. Nick looked at it, the burned bits on the ground and the diamond now black, but then turned his eyes up to Sloane, still asleep.

“Nick?” Monroe asked. His head whipped to him, realizing how disoriented he was when he forgot he was in a hospital room. “Nick, what happened?”

“I…Um…” Where did he start? Where did he finish?

“Why isn’t she awake?” Rosalee asked, squeezing Sloane’s hand worriedly. She looked at Adalind, who was looking her over.

“I-I’m not sure, unless Nick wasn’t able to wake her up.”

“I tried…” he said faintly, looking at her prone form. Reaching out, he set a hand on hers. It twitched when he touched it and he looked at her face. “Sloane?”

She slowly opened her eyes, blinking dazedly. “What…?” she rasped.

“Sloane!” Rosalee gasped, leaning over to awkwardly hug her as she was laying down. “You’re awake! Thank God!!”

Sloane grunted. “…Move…”

“Huh?”

“Move!” she suddenly lurched up and leaned over the side of the bed away from them, vomiting up a black blob that splat to the ground. It was about the size of a golf ball but had the consistency of dried rubber cement. She coughed, spitting up a little blood and fluid and shuddering. Rosalee was rubbing and pounding over her back furiously both in comfort and trying to loosen up any other bits.

Adalind looked around and grabbed the bottle that the dream spell had been in and scooped the black ball up and screwed the lid on tight. “Okay…so that’s disgusting…”

“Try coughing it up,” Sloane groaned. Rosalee helped her sit back and she groaned at the pain in her chest. Monroe was using the remote to help her sit up and she sighed. She looked up and blinked, a little black ooze still running from her mouth as she stared at Adalind. “…Sorry, do I know you?”

“Uh…” She hesitated and set the jar down before quickly pouring a glass of water and handing it to her. “Here, rinse your mouth out.”

Sloane narrowed her eyes but took the glass and swished the water around before spitting it back into the glass. Adalind took it to dump in the nearby bathroom. “…What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Rosalee asked.

“I remember…Diedre taking control of me. And I…” She looked down, pulling the hospital gown front down enough to see the bandage stuck to her chest. Nick blushed a little, but also felt the guilt twist him. “Huh…yeah, that explains the pain…ow…” she groaned, leaning back again.

“There was a curse under that too,” Adalind said. “It put you into a dream state…”

“Do you not remember?” Nick asked.

“Uh…no…” she shook her head, frowning as she tried to think. “Trying to stop myself killing you is the last thing I kind of remember…are you okay?”

Nick stared a moment before nodding. “Y-yeah, I’m fine…”

“Good,” she sighed, then grunted again.

“Should we get a nurse? Get you some pain killers?” Monroe asked.

“Maybe…how did I sleep through this…?”

Adalind hesitated before stepping up. “Um…pardon me, let me try something…” Sloane arched her brow and watched her hand as it went over the bandage. She held it there for more than a couple of minutes.

“…Y’know, I appreciate you still want to try something after seeing me barf, but you could at least wait till—Oh!” She jumped a little.

“Sloane?” Nick asked, alert immediately.

“Tingles…” she muttered.

“I’m just trying to help that healing along,” Adalind gritted out, as if pushing something heavy. She kept working for several minutes and everyone was quiet until she then gasped and took her hand away. “Ugh…it’s a lot harder than I thought…”

Sloane blinked and breathed deeply. “…It feels better though…” She reached up and pulled the bandage away. To see the wound was nearly healed—it was still pink and tender, but since it was stitched the edges were closed. It was as if she’d healed ten days in a matter of minutes

“Whoa,” Monroe said, looking at it in surprise.

“That’s amazing…” She looked at Adalind and frowned worriedly as she leaned against the bed. “You okay, Adalind?”

“Adalind?” Sloane asked, alert.

“Yes…hi,” she said, smiling worriedly. “Um…I’m Adalind Schade…”

“…” She looked at Nick. She was uncertain but he could tell, even now, she would fight her.

“…She helped us,” Nick sighed. “She saved you, in a way.”

“In a way? You wouldn’t have been able to without me!” she pointed out. She paused and took a deep breath. “But…Yes. I’m trying the whole…making amends thing.”

She looked at Nick and the others again and they nodded. “Okay…”

“I’m going to try and help with Juliette too,” she said. “But I’m going to need a day to rest…Healing was worse than that dream spell without something to work it through, like a potion…”

“That’s fine. We can meet at the shop later,” Rosalee said. “I should still get a doctor though.”

“Uh…how are we going to explain…” He gestured at his own chest. “I mean, they’ll notice that it’s not like a fresh wound anymore…”

“Ah…”

Sloane grunted and looked around. “Ah…shit, my phone and wallet are back in Wildred…” She looked at Nick. “You have your library card?”

“Yeah, I have it,” he nodded.

She nodded and motioned to a pen and paper on a nearby table that Monroe handed her, and she wrote down a number. “Call this, give them the number on your card, they’ll give you a doctor’s name and page him for you.”

“Okay,” Nick nodded, taking the number.

“I should, uh…get this somewhere safe,” Adalind said, holding up the jar. The little glob inside jiggled like a mound of blackberry jelly. “I don’t know what to do with it, but Henrietta might, when she’s feeling better…”

“Right,” Rosalee nodded. “I’m going to get you something to eat.”

“…Yeah, I’m hungry now that you mentioned it.”

“I’ll come with you and get enough we can all eat together,” Monroe said.

“Oh, but…” She looked at Sloane.

“It’s fine,” she held up a hand. “I can be alone for a couple of minutes, get my head on straight. I’m safe in a hospital.”

“You’d think that…” He looked at Adalind, remembering when she dressed as a nurse to try and kill Marie.

“…Right, yes, I’m sorry for that too,” she said awkwardly. “I’m just gonna…” She quickly shuffled out the door with the jar in her arms.

“You sure you can trust her?” Sloane asked.

“Honestly…maybe. She did actually help and seems sincere, I think. But I’m fine making her squirm a little first.” Sloane and the others smiled a little and Rosalee gave her another hug before heading out with Monroe. Nick was heading for the door as well but paused a moment. “Hey…do you really not remember anything from your dream?”

“Uh…no. Why?” she asked, looking worried.

“…No reason,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

She nodded, sighing as he left. She looked around a little before turning to gaze out the window, she began humming _Some Sunny Day_ softy to herself with a wistful tap of her fingers on her lap.

\-----------------------

Juliette headed up to the penthouse without any resistance. They were expecting her it seemed and the big man at the door opened it for her to come inside. Kenneth was sitting a table near the window and smiled as she came in. A bottle of champagne was chilling in an ice bucket on the table and two glasses were waiting with him. “Good evening.”

Juliette arched her brow but sighed and walked over to sit with him. “Good evening…”

“Now, no need to be quite so morose,” he said, taking the bottle out and pouring them a glass each. “I mean I understand, it’s not a _cheerful_ reason you’re here. But it could still be a good thing.”

“…What exactly do I get out of this again?” she asked, taking the champagne.

“Well, if this goes well, I’m on the fast track to be the new crown prince after my cousin’s…unfortunate death,” he smiled. Juliette wondered, idly, if Kenneth was responsible for that, but didn’t really care. “If that happens, I will have even more power than I do now. Power enough I can get you a new life anywhere in the world. Money, prestige…Tutors in your powers, if you desire, or I can see about procuring the materials you need for self-study. And if this works out as well as I hope, perhaps it could lead to us doing business more often. For extra pay, of course.”

“…Being King is that important?” she asked, sipping the champagne. It was good, she had to admit. “I mean…I’ll be honest, the Royal family doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

“It is complicated, I’ll admit,” he sighed.

“Explain it to me. Because right now, you’re making promises on _if_ you become king,” she said.

Kenneth pursed his lips but nodded and set his glass down, leaning forward. “Very well…Once upon a time—”

“Really?” she asked blandly.

“Let me continue. Once upon a time, there was a King with six sons, and a King with a single daughter. The two kings wanted to join their kingdoms, but the first king was unsure which of his sons would be the best choice as a betrothed. So he set for them a quest: to bring him a powerful weapon. The sons all set out to find the best sword, strongest bow, or most advanced piece of weaponry they could find. The last son returned however with a man. The man had with him a single, small box in the palm of his hand. Everyone laughed until he held the box up to the court and said one word… “Woge”.”

“A Grimm?” Juliette asked, engrossed despite herself.

“Indeed. Several of the court woged then, shocking many others and nearly causing a panic. ‘Kneel’, he ordered, and they did so, though many looked scared and flustered. “Kill each other.” And they did, turning the hall into a field of carnage until only one was left, and the shocked king sat on his throne. He held the box out to the king. ‘Use this and you may order the true beasts of this world as you see fit to protect your kingdom. What I want in return is your permission to hunt those you don’t need without any repercussions.’ I know, charming,” he said, taking a sip at her frown. “But those are Grimms for you.”

“…What happened? With the king?”

“Ah. Well, power is alluring. He awarded the prize to his youngest and sent him to be married. The Verrat was created, and every new member took an oath before the king to protect any member of the royal family, be they crowned or not. And it's an oath they must follow to the death, whether they want to or not.” He smiled at Rispoli who only nodded.

"Why would they join?" she asked, eyeing him.

"Wonderful benefits. Health and monetary. Rispoli here has a large family, many siblings and only his father. He joined young and rose through the ranks. We're very proud of him," he said. It sounded more like he was talking about a dog.

"Thank you, your highness," he said, not making any indication he minded.

"But, back to the story. The king began ordering the wesen of the kingdom to do as he wished and built a great kingdom…but with greatness comes a target on your back. Another kingdom waged war, hoping to get that power for themselves. They destroyed the youngest son and his family as they tried to stop the invaders, spreading to their borders. The war raged for a long time and even whatever power he had couldn’t save the kingdom. To protect his family, he swore them to secrecy and gave whatever the power was to his eldest son and sent them out to another kingdom. From then on, we are royalty without a true kingdom—we’re found in Austria, Bavaria, England, France…we have our titles, but our kingdom has been lost for nearly a millennium.”

Juliette tilted her head a little. “…You want that kingdom.”

He smiled. “I do. I’m rather tired of being in the shadows. The King and Viktor are too, but we all have different ideas on how to go about it. Frederick thinks this “prophecy” Adalind’s child might be part of is the key. Viktor thinks of it like a business, all trades and information gathering and all that.”

“And you?”

“Me? I think we have a goddamn talisman that makes half the world do as we say, and we should damn well use it!” he laughed. “Just order them to take it back for us. Downside is you can’t broadcast it; they have to be in a room with the bloody thing. Haven’t figured a way around that yet.”

“What’s this object?”

“No idea,” he sighed, though didn’t seem to care. “Can fit in the palm of a hand, that’s all I know. But dear Uncle Frederick keeps it pretty close and secret.”

“So…you get to be king, you get this powerful knickknack, and then you can do whatever you want?”

“That’s the goal,” he said. “And you will then be an instrumental part of my new court, if you wish.”

Juliette thought about it before nodding slowly. “Hard to say no I suppose to near ultimate power…”

“That’s the spirit,” he smiled, clinking their glasses together.

“What do you need me to do though?”

“Well, we need Diana. She’s with Kelly Burkhardt. I’m guessing he can contact her. Can you get in touch with her?”

“…Yes,” she nodded.

“Then it’s really fairly simple! Get her to come to Portland. We set a trap, we have our prize.”

“You think that’s simple?” she said, laughing a little.

“I think with the right push it is. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Nick was in mortal danger and needed Mummy's help?” he said, using an overly saccharine sweet tone despite the malicious glint in his eye. “I do hope she's the heroic type.”

\-----------------

“Well, you seem to be alright,” the doctor said, shining a light in Sloane’s eyes.

“Is that your medical diagnoses?” she asked.

“You sound just fine too,” she said. “I haven’t seen miraculous healing like this before though…”

“Maybe it’s part of the spell?” Nick said.

“Maybe…and you were able to wake her up?” the doctor asked, eyeing him.

“Um…there was a counter measure in a book.” _Mostly true, it was in a book._ They couldn’t let on that they got help from a hexenbiest, who knows who that would get back to if they did.

The doctor didn’t look convinced but sighed and starting writing on her clipboard. “I’m retiring soon, I don’t really care. You people are just too weird.”

Sloane and Nick glanced at one another and then shrugged. “Yeah?”

The doctor rolled her eyes and finished writing on her clipboard. “I’d like to keep you for tonight and release you in the morning, just to be sure. But I’ll go ahead and take those stitches out and move your medical files around to avoid suspicion.”

“Thank you,” Sloane said.

She nodded and looked at Nick. “I’d like to ask you to leave while I take the stitches out.”

“Ah, right,” he said, nodding to them and heading to the door to give them privacy, blushing just a little. He was doing his best to stay calm and act normal around Sloane, but it was hard when he kept remembering how real things felt in the dream world.

“Nick!” He looked up and smiled as he saw Mim and Jean rushing up—not quite running since they were probably called out on it earlier, but definitely not a walk. “How is she?” Jean asked, panting a little.

“She’s doing alright. Getting the stitches out now.”

The breathed out in relief. “I’m so glad…”

“Any sign of Dierdre,” Mim asked. The scowl on her face made it clear what she planned to do when she found her.

“Not yet, no,” he sighed. “I don’t know what kind of car she was driving, so the best I can do is have them look out for her and the trailer she stole from me…”

“Can’t believe she did that either. Stealing another Grimm’s collection while they’re alive—I mean, even traditional Grimm have honor!” Jean said.

“That’s not even the least honorable thing she’s done. I swear I’m going to…to…Ugh! I don’t know what because I just don’t want to hurt Rebecca’s memory too, but I have to do something to that woman!”

“Well, I could offer to take her powers away, but I don’t think it’s going to work very well if she’s not attracted to me...” They looked up when Adalind walked over. “Uh, hey…”

“Hi,” Nick said. It wasn’t as curt as it could’ve been, and she took that as a good sign. “Mim, Jean, this is Adalind Schade. She’s the one that performed the spell that let me go in to wake Sloane up.”

“She is?” They looked at her and Adalind tensed as they suddenly pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you!”

“Yes, thank you!” Jean said.

“Y…You’re welcome,” she said, patting their backs. She looked almost panicked at being thanked and Nick smiled just a little.

The doctor came out of the room and looked at them all before sighing again. “If you want to visit with her you can, just try to keep in mind she’s not _completely_ healed. You have twenty minutes.”

“We will, thank you,” Mim said quickly, ushering Jean and the others in before the doctor could ask questions.

“Sloane!” Jean said, going over to hug her.

“Aunt Mim, Aunt Jean,” she sighed, hugging them back.

“Aunt?” Adalind whispered to Nick.

“Adoptive. Mim’s a Jaegerbar, Jean’s a Lowen. They’re getting married soon.”

“To who?”

“Each other,” Nick chuckled.

“Oh! …wait…Jaegerbar, Lowen…she’s a Grimm…” Adalind shook her head. “Should’ve guessed you’d find another Grimm like you somewhere in the world.”

Nick blushed a little on reflex and cleared his throat. “…Kind of, yeah…Didn’t start out that way though.”

Mim was getting done with her hug when she reached into her pocket. “We towed your car up, got the keys here for you. And your phone and wallet.”

“Your bag and that box of things we figured you were bringing with you is in your car as well,” Jean added.

“Thank you,” Sloane smiled, looking them all over. “I’m glad I didn’t take them with me when Dierdre tricked me…”

“How did she do that anyway?” Nick asked.

“Posed as an unassuming woman with car trouble. She reminded me of Oma…right down to giving me a slice of apple cake she had “leftover from a party”,” she said with an irritated curl of her lip. “The extra ingredient was not appreciated…”

“She used your grandmothers apple cake for evil?” Jean gasped.

“Oh, add another to the sin list,” Mim said, completely serious.

"She took your knife too," Nick said.

"...Well, she had it originally...and Oma before her. And several other ancestors," Sloane sighed. "Again though, glad I didn't have that in my hand..."

"Don't even joke," Jean said, shuddering.

Sloane smiled apologetically and patted her arm. "Sorry...but as much as it's gonna be missed in a way...maybe it's best that it's out of my life now. I can get my own that doesn't have such a _colorful_ history."

"Well, I still need the trailer back..."

"No, yeah, we're getting that back, don't worry," Sloane said. Sloane smiled a little then looked at Adalind. “…Hi again…”

“Hi…um, just thought I’d let you know Henrietta is actually getting released tonight. She has to take it easy for a while, but she’ll make a full recovery with time. I’m going to drive her home and tomorrow I’m going to help Monroe and Rosalee figure out how to suppress Juliette’s Hexenbiest side.”

Sloane nodded a little. “Okay, sounds like a plan…” Adalind hesitated, looking like she wanted to say something. Sloane eyed her but then sighed. “I will…tell Kelly all you’ve done and are doing. If you can help us figure out how to stop the royals, we’ll make sure you’re reunited with Diana. Till then…I dunno, we can set up a video call maybe, till prince asshole is out of the city.”

Adalind lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah. I owe you that much at least, all things considered.”

“Thank you,” she sighed. “And don’t worry, I’m more than determined to take the royals down. They’re all insane, honestly…Sean’s probably the most levelheaded of them and even he’s not without his moments.”

“Speaking of which, I haven’t heard from Wu and Hank…” Nick realized. “Monroe said they went to check on him, right?”

“Yeah…” Adalind said, growing worried.

“Go check in then. It’s about time for visitation to be over,” Sloane sighed. She looked at Mim and Jean. “I’ll talk with you two later…for now, don’t go to my house though, I don’t know if Dierdre is watching it and while she can’t enter or hurt you…she’s resourceful.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Mim said derisively. They kissed Sloane’s temples. “We’ll see you tomorrow then, Girlie, and bring you home.”

“Rest up.”

“I’m a little scared to sleep,” Sloane said, smiling wryly. Nick was going to say something but hesitated.

“You should be okay,” Adalind said. “Just take it easy while that wound heals the rest of the way.”

She nodded and they all waved as they left the room. He sighed and pulled out his phone as they headed down and out, waving bye to Mim and Jean before calling Hank up.

“Nick? You’re awake?”

“Yeah…yeah, been up for a couple of hours. Sloane’s up too.”

“Oh, thank God,” Hank sighed. “Sorry we weren’t there…”

“No, it’s okay. You didn’t miss much till we woke up; I mean we were just…asleep. Nothing else.” He wanted to smack himself. “Um, anyway, they said you went to check on Renard?”

“Yeah, he’d visited Henrietta last night. We thought he may have seen something or know something. We tried calling him and some weird British guy answered. Found the captain upstairs asleep but his doors were unlocked, and his phone was downstairs.”

“…That’s weird,” he said, mind turning. “Did he know anything useful?”

“No, he said he’d gone to talk to Henrietta about some side-effects from his nearly dying. He said he’s having nightmares, black outs, his wounds start bleeding like they’re open again.”

“Even weirder,” Nick sighed.

“Yeah…Wu and I got kind of a theory…And it’s the weirdest.”

“What is it?”

“Well, there was that recent TV program about Jack the Ripper. The killer we heard about has a similar MO: Slit the throats, take the organs from local ladies of the night. Henrietta was kind of the odd one out in victim typing though.”

“You think it’s the same guy?” Nick asked.

“Well, see…we asked the Captain when he started noticing the black outs and stuff. And around the time it started getting worse was when the killings started…”

“…Wait…you think _Renard_ is the killer?” Nick asked, hushing his voice as he quickly headed to the car.

“Not _Renard,_ just…Look, the Mishipeshu possessed me, right? And I nearly killed a man because of it. What if Jack the Ripper…possessed him?”

Nick was quiet for a moment as he unlocked his car and climbed in. “…I want to say that’s crazy, but…”

“We don’t have the trailer to see if your ancestors ever ran into this,” Hank sighed. “But I will say, the guy that answered the phone said, “ _we_ had a long night”. I definitely don’t think the captain did anything willingly, he thinks someone is targeting him, but we got the techs in here and they haven’t found any unknown prints. The only ones on his phone are his.”

Nick sighed. “It’s just one thing after another…”

“I know, man,” he sighed. “I’ve got Franco watching him tonight, see if he does anything. Maybe we can research some other way.”

“Yeah…I need to eat something though. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later.” They hanged up and he sat for a bit, thinking on what Hank said. After a moment he quickly got out of the car and headed for the hospital again. He headed up to Henrietta’s room, but she was already gone. He quickly headed back but paused and went to Sloane’s room instead. Opening it slightly, he was surprised to see Adalind and Henrietta were there, Henrietta in a wheelchair with her bag over the side, about to head home.

“…Fine, I think,” Sloane was saying.

“We’ll look at what that thing is a little closer. Whatever magic made it is really powerful,” Adalind was saying. They looked up when they realized the door was open more and she straightened. “Uh, hey,” Adalind said, surprised. “We’re just heading out.”

“I know…I have a question for you two though.”

“Sure…what about?”

“It’s about the captain.”

“What about him?” Sloane asked, her brow pinched.

“Right, you weren’t here for this…” he sighed. “There’s been a string of murders. Women with their throats…slit.” He looked at Henrietta who nodded, looking tried and pained. “Renard was the last guy to visit you yesterday, so Hank called, and it sounded like someone else answered the phone. So, they went to check on him and found him asleep, but his doors were unlocked.”

“That’s not like him,” Adalind said immediately.

“Yeah. But they can’t find any evidence of another person. Hank has a theory though…” he hesitated but took a deep breath. “Could it be that he’s…possessed?” He expected Sloane to resist the idea, but she didn’t, looking more fascinated than anything.

“…Possessed?” Adalind looked at Henrietta, who was looking worried.

“Yeah. Hank heard a British voice on the phone, the killings are…reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. Renard said he’s having black outs and waking up in odd places. And bleeding?”

Henrietta nodded slightly and pulled out her phone, using that now to type something out and show it to Adalind. “‘Piggyback’? …Wait, you mean…”

“What?” Nick asked, alert.

She looked at Henrietta but then back at him. “When he was shot, at the hospital, was he ever pronounced dead?”

“I don't know…I know they didn't expect him to survive,” he said honestly.

“Was anybody there with him?”

“Well, his mother. She did something to help him, I know.”

“Then he did die, and she brought him back. That must have been what opened the portal.” She looked at Henrietta who nodded with a sigh.

“What are you talking about?” Nick asked impatiently.

“When he died. Sean was dead just long enough for something to hitch a ride, and when his mother brought him back, Sean brought that something back with him. That's why he's bleeding. It's taking control of him. Does he know?”

“Oh, he knows there's something wrong, but he can't remember anything,” Nick sighed.

“That's good, 'cause when he does, it'll be too late.”

“Too late for what?” Sloane asked.

“Whatever he brought back with him will have taken over…” Henrietta was quiet before typing something out and holding it up to Adalind. Adalind paled as she read it.

“What, what is it?”

“Henrietta says… “It happened fast, and he had a hat low over his face, but I think it might’ve been Sean.””

“So, it’s true…Spirit possession,” Sloane said. She looked at Nick. “Guess I owe you an apology for saying ghosts weren’t real…”

He thought about seeing Rebecca in the dream world—how he’d thought by the end it must be the real her, in spirit. And that Sloane wouldn’t remember it. “Yeah…”

“That's how usually how it happens,” Adalind nodded, looking worried.

“So how do we get it out of him?” Sloane asked.

“You can't unless you open the portal again.”

“Then how do we do that?” Nick asked, already knowing the answer would probably not be good.

Adalind looked worried and uncomfortable, glancing at Henrietta who nodded a little. “…You have to kill him.”

\------------------------

Juliette pulled up what was once her house slowly. She’d requested a car to use from Kenneth to avoid being immediately and he’d obliged with a nice black SUV. She still had her key and opened the door. Nothing seemed different and for some reason that made her a little more upset. Nick still had their photos up, still had the things they bought together out. Like she was still in his life.

Shaking her head, she walked over and sat down at the computer, logging in and pulling up the email Nick used. He found the address _behedr@toomail.net_ Kelly used and typed out the message.

_Kelly,_

_Nick’s in trouble. If you don’t come, he may be killed. The house is safe._

_Juliette_

She read it over again, hesitating a moment but then hitting send. Standing, she paced for a little while before going and pouring a drink from the liquor cabinet in the kitchen to steady her nerves.

Then she heard the computer chime and headed over to check it. It was a reply from Kelly already.

_ON MY WAY. 2 DAYS._

Juliette nodded, deleted both messages from all folders and then finished the drink before rinsing the glass and putting it away to leave and go back to the penthouse. Things were in motion now. There was no going back.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo...got the ball rolling on a lot of the big stuff :3 PREPARE FOR A LOT OF CHANGES!! But not everything is going to change I'm afraid...  
> Hopefully Juliette's motivation seems okay here--I think it's at least clearer than in the show up to this point tbh... Biggest change right now is that Henrietta will NOT be dying. Because she deserved better. 
> 
> Also a recent comment got me thinking...I've done some art type stuff around Sloane and never really posted it anywhere. I could make a document here on AO3 for that? Or a side tumblr if anyone is interested in checking them out. Thoughts? (thanks for inspiration, FairyTailWizard!)


End file.
